Research on the fear of childbirth should be interdisciplinary |



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Sweden is one of the few countries where research is strong and has a support model for women in childbirth. But the field could be even stronger if more psychologists were interested in the field of research. Mittuniversity researchers say that in their studies, the reasons for delivery are numerous.

"In a few studies we have followed women who have shown a high level of fear of motherhood during pregnancy, and we have found that women differ in many ways." We see that it is not possible to divide first-born women and adolescent girls, but also that it is impossible to explain their fear of medical or socio-demographic factors alone, "said Elisabet Rondung, PhD student in psychology at Mittuniversity.

Supported during pregnancy
In one of the studies, 258 pregnant women from the maternity care centers of Sundsvall, Västerås and Uppsala participated. Women have received support for delivery during their pregnancy. About half of the group offered cognitive-behavioral therapy based on the Internet and the other half, supportive interviews with a midwife. Women in both groups made the same changes in their fears during pregnancy and up to one year after delivery, during which time women were followed.

– Regarding psychological factors, there are major differences within the group, indicating that women probably need different forms of support and help manage their fear of childbirth. For example, we studied fear of blood or injections, symptoms of post-traumatic stress and symptoms of anxiety and depression. It was found that there were quite significant differences between women in this regard and that their response patterns could be grouped into five different groups, "said Elisabeth Rondung.

Catch the firstborn and the mother-in-law
The largest group of women had a relatively low symptom burden on all factors studied. Two other groups had relatively strong symptoms. In one case, there were obvious symptoms of blood phobia and injection, and in the second case of usually high symptoms, especially with regard to post-traumatic stress. The last two groups were somewhere between the level of symptoms. Firstborns and companions were represented in the five groups.

The studies are part of a thesis on the psychological aspects of the fear of the birth of Elisabet Rondung.

"The interest and commitment to childbirth is very interesting in Sweden, both from researchers and clinics, but the field of research is relatively small and our ambition is to complement existing research. More in-depth interdisciplinary studies would generally benefit the entire region, "said Elisabeth Rondung.

Contact:
Elisabet Rondung, doctoral student in psychology at Mittuniversitetet, [email protected]

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