No relationship between fear of childbirth and pregnancy-/delivery-outcome in a low-risk Dutch pregnancy cohort delivering at home or in hospital.

CONCLUSIONS: The birth giving process was not related to FOC during pregnancy, but the pre-partum level of FOC certainly is predictive of the level of postpartum FOC, suggesting that FOC as measured during gestation may influence the interpretation of the birth experience itself. We did find a positive relationship between both parity and medical interventions during childbirth and FOC postpartum. PMID: 22621317 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Source: Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynaecology - Category: OBGYN Tags: J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol Source Type: research