Attitudes and Preferences of Young Women With Low and High Fear of Childbirth

Abstract

We examined constructions of labor and birth for 461 Canadian women who attended the University of British Columbia (Canada) and participated in an online survey about pregnancy and birth, using a combination of Likert items and open-ended questions. We performed a content analysis of women's open-ended responses about their feelings toward birth and analyzed comments of women with high and low fear of childbirth separately. Students with high fear of birth described childbirth as a frightening and painful ordeal and viewed obstetric interventions as a means to make labor and birth more manageable. Students with low fear constructed birth as a natural event and regarded interventions more critically. Students in both groups supported women's autonomous maternity care decisions. Our findings contribute to care providers' and educators' knowledge about preferences and fears expressed by the next generation of maternity care consumers and potential strategies to reduce their fear of childbirth.