Fear of childbirth in obstetrically low-risk nulliparous women in Sweden and Denmark
Author
Summary, in English
The prevalence of troublesome fear of childbirth (FOC) in Western countries is about 20%, of which approximately 6-10% suffer from severe FOC that impacts daily life. The countries of Sweden and Denmark are quite alike as far as childbirth culture is concerned. However, to some extent they differ in the organisation of midwifery care during the antenatal and labour period, respectively, and this may influence women's FOC. The aims of this study were to compare FOC among Danish and Swedish nulliparous women and to investigate a possible difference in FOC between women who, during pregnancy, had met the midwife who they were subsequently coincidentally allocated to receive labour care from and women who had not previously met the midwife. In total 165 women participated, comprising 55 Swedes and 110 Danes, of whom 55 among the latter group had met the midwife during pregnancy. Severe FOC was found in 10%. There were no differences between the Swedish women and the Danish women who had or had not met the midwife. Fear of childbirth measured in gestational week 37 correlated positively with fear at admission to the labour ward.
Department/s
Publishing year
2008
Language
English
Pages
340-350
Publication/Series
Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology
Volume
26
Issue
4
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Topic
- Psychology
Keywords
- Denmark
- Sweden
- cross-national comparison
- Fear of childbirth
- nulliparous women
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0264-6838