A comparative study on fear of childbirth and sense of coherence in low-risk and high-risk pregnant women

ABSTRACT Background: Pregnancy is a major physical and psychological event in every woman’s life. Instead of being a joyful experience, pregnancy may become a worrisome and fearful event in few patients and may assume a pathological dimension. Fear of childbirth (FOC) is often associated with an increased risk of behavioral, psychological, and mental health issues for the mother and also for the baby. Aim: We aimed to study the prevalence of FOC and its association with sense of coherence (SOC), various clinical and sociodemographic variables. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted using a consecutive sampling method with 70 pregnant women. Data were collected after consent using sociodemographic details, Trait subscale of State trait anxiety inventory Form Y-2, Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire – version A (W-DEQ version A), and SOC Scale-13. Means, standard deviations, percentages, Pearson correlation, and Chi-square test were used for the analysis. Results: The mean age was 23.89 ± 2.72 in low risk and 24.77 ± 4.62 in high-risk pregnant women. Mean SOC score of 78.17 ± 10.59 was obtained in the high-risk group and a score of 80.20 ± 7.73 in the low-risk group. A significant negative correlation of W-DEQ A was seen with SOC-13 in the high-risk group ( r = −0.451, P < 0.01) and in the overall sample ( r = −0.294, P < 0.05). Overall W-DEQ A scores were positively correlated with pregnancy risk.( r = 0.245, P < 0.05). Conclusion: Early identification of predictors of childbirth fear with a multidisciplinary approach will greatly improve the well-being of both mother and baby.