Abstract
Background: It seems that with perceived social support, self-efficacy for childbirth fear can be strengthened in pregnant women. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between perceived social support in pregnancy and self-efficacy for childbirth fear in Arak. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 180 pregnant women. Sampling was done on convenience and health centers were selected randomly. After receiving written consent, the standard questionnaire of perceived social support and the self-efficacy for childbirth fear was given to pregnant women. The questionnaires were collected immediately after completion. After collecting the data, the information was entered into the spss18 software and the Pearson test was used for data analysis. Results: The mean score of self-efficacy for childbirth fear, and perceived social support were 34.55±8.183, 23.93±11.047 respectively. Also, there was no correlation between self-efficacy for childbirth fear and family, friends, and others perceived social support (p >0.05). Conclusion: From the results it seems that the subjective evaluation of the individual from her supporters during pregnancy is not effective on self-efficacy for childbirth fear which is subjective as well. Therefore, health providers should involve directly the husband and the wife’s family regarding supporting the pregnant woman during prenatal care.
Highlights
Childbirth is a multidimensional process with physical, emotional, social, physiological, cultural and psychological dimensions and is regarded as a critical experience in the life of a woman [1]
The present study showed that there was no significant correlation between Family perceived social support (r = -0.071, P= 0.17), friends perceived social support (r = 0.069, P=0.17), and others such as health providers (r= -0.078, P=0.29) in self-efficacy for childbirth fear
This study showed that there is no significant relationship between perceived social support and self-efficacy for childbirth fear
Summary
Childbirth is a multidimensional process with physical, emotional, social, physiological, cultural and psychological dimensions and is regarded as a critical experience in the life of a woman [1]. Delivery as the most stressful physical and mental incident for women affects physiological and psychological indices of women pregnancy and childbirth [2] Factors such as labor pain, previous labor experience, previous gynecological problems, including emergency cesarean section, mother personality characteristics such as anxiety, low self-esteem, marital dissatisfaction, lack of social support and low self-efficacy are related to mother’s fear of childbirth [2 - 4]. Bandura believes that self-efficacy affects all aspects of behavior and emotional activities such as anxiety, stress, and patterns of thought [9] One of these stressful situations is delivery. Social support has a significant effect on reducing stress, depression, and distress, and directly associates with social skills and reduction of the duration of the disease It seems that with perceived social support, self-efficacy for childbirth fear can be strengthened in pregnant women.
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