The Effect of Childbirth Education and Birth Plan on Childbirth Self-Efficacy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of birth education given to pregnant women and the birth plan applied together with the education on birth self-efficacy. Methods: The study was conducted as a randomised controlled trial at seven Family Health Centers in Turkey. The pregnant women in the sample were divided into three groups. Group 1 received only childbirth education (Group Education-Group-ED), Group 2 received childbirth education and a birth plan (Group Education & Plan-Group-ED&P), and Group 3 was the control group, all of which included 51 pregnant women. The childbirth education was divided into two sessions of 40-50 minutes each. The Personal Information Form and the Childbirth Self-Efficacy Inventory were used to collect the data between April and September 2017. Results: When the pregnant women's intragroup self-efficacy mean scores were compared after the intervention, it was determined that the pregnant women's birth self-efficacy levels in Group ED and Group ED&P increased significantly (P<0.05), whereas there was no statistically significant increase in the pregnant women's self-efficacy levels in the control group (P>0.05). When the pregnant women's intergroup self-efficacy mean scores were compared after the intervention, it was discovered that Group ED's childbirth self-efficacy level was higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). It was also determined that the pregnant women in Group ED&P had similar levels of childbirth self-efficacy to those in the control and Group ED (P>0.05). Conclusion: The findings show that providing only childbirth education during pregnancy is the most effective method for increasing the childbirth self-efficacy of pregnant women. (Clinical trials number: NCT04525430)