Fear of childbirth and its associated factors among pregnant women in East Africa: Systematic review and meta-analysis

IF 2.6 3区医学 Q1 NURSING

Midwifery Pub Date : 2024-09-23 DOI:10.1016/j.midw.2024.104191

{"title":"Fear of childbirth and its associated factors among pregnant women in East Africa: Systematic review and meta-analysis","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.midw.2024.104191","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Tokophobia is a mild to extreme fear of pregnancy and/or childbirth that may cause a woman to avoid giving birth. It is a common obstetrical problem that affects women's health. Some studies have found that fear of childbirth is common in East African countries. However, there was inconsistency across those studies, and no study was undertaken to report the pooled prevalence of fear of childbirth and its associated factors. As a result, the purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to identify the pooled prevalence of fear of childbirth and its associated factors in Eastern Africa.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies on the prevalence and associated factors of childbirth fear using Pub Med, Hinari, Google Scholar, and East African University archives. Data were extracted using a data extraction format developed in Microsoft Excel, and the analysis was carried out with STATA 14 statistical software. Each article's quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute's critical appraisal tool for prevalence studies. The Cochrane Q statistics and I<sup>2</sup> test were used to examine heterogeneity between studies. Subgroup analysis was done by country and sample size. To assess publication bias, a funnel plot, and Egger's regression test were used.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>This systematic review and meta-analysis included eleven studies. The pooled prevalence of the fear of childbirth among pregnant women in East Africa was 27.86 %. A history of labor and delivery complications (OR = 5.41, 95 %CI = 2.20, 8.63), poor social support (OR = 4.50, 95 %CI = 1.70, 11.92), primiparity (OR = 1.91, 95 %CI = 1.17, 3.12), no ANC follow-up (AOR=2.65, 95 %CI=1.48, 4.74), and unplanned pregnancy (AOR=4.88, 95 %CI=1.23, 19.31) were statistically associated with the fear of childbirth.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>The pooled prevalence of fear of childbirth was high. Previous labor and delivery complications, poor social support, primiparity, a lack of antenatal care follow-up, and unplanned pregnancy were all statistically associated with fear of childbirth. To address this, healthcare providers should focus on individualized psychological support for pregnant women who experience tokophobia. Furthermore, encouraging comprehensive antenatal care and strengthening social networks can reduce the fear of childbirth and promote maternal well-being.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18495,"journal":{"name":"Midwifery","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Midwifery","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0266613824002742","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"NURSING","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Tokophobia is a mild to extreme fear of pregnancy and/or childbirth that may cause a woman to avoid giving birth. It is a common obstetrical problem that affects women's health. Some studies have found that fear of childbirth is common in East African countries. However, there was inconsistency across those studies, and no study was undertaken to report the pooled prevalence of fear of childbirth and its associated factors. As a result, the purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to identify the pooled prevalence of fear of childbirth and its associated factors in Eastern Africa.

Methods

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies on the prevalence and associated factors of childbirth fear using Pub Med, Hinari, Google Scholar, and East African University archives. Data were extracted using a data extraction format developed in Microsoft Excel, and the analysis was carried out with STATA 14 statistical software. Each article's quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute's critical appraisal tool for prevalence studies. The Cochrane Q statistics and I² test were used to examine heterogeneity between studies. Subgroup analysis was done by country and sample size. To assess publication bias, a funnel plot, and Egger's regression test were used.

Results

This systematic review and meta-analysis included eleven studies. The pooled prevalence of the fear of childbirth among pregnant women in East Africa was 27.86 %. A history of labor and delivery complications (OR = 5.41, 95 %CI = 2.20, 8.63), poor social support (OR = 4.50, 95 %CI = 1.70, 11.92), primiparity (OR = 1.91, 95 %CI = 1.17, 3.12), no ANC follow-up (AOR=2.65, 95 %CI=1.48, 4.74), and unplanned pregnancy (AOR=4.88, 95 %CI=1.23, 19.31) were statistically associated with the fear of childbirth.

Conclusion

The pooled prevalence of fear of childbirth was high. Previous labor and delivery complications, poor social support, primiparity, a lack of antenatal care follow-up, and unplanned pregnancy were all statistically associated with fear of childbirth. To address this, healthcare providers should focus on individualized psychological support for pregnant women who experience tokophobia. Furthermore, encouraging comprehensive antenatal care and strengthening social networks can reduce the fear of childbirth and promote maternal well-being.

查看原文本刊更多论文

东非孕妇对分娩的恐惧及其相关因素：系统回顾和荟萃分析。

背景介绍恐产症是一种对怀孕和/或分娩的轻度至极度恐惧，可能会导致妇女逃避分娩。这是一种影响妇女健康的常见产科问题。一些研究发现，东非国家普遍存在分娩恐惧症。然而，这些研究的结果并不一致，也没有研究报告分娩恐惧及其相关因素的综合流行率。因此，本系统综述和荟萃分析旨在确定东非地区分娩恐惧及其相关因素的总体流行率：我们利用 Pub Med、Hinari、Google Scholar 和东非大学档案对有关分娩恐惧的流行率和相关因素的研究进行了系统回顾和荟萃分析。使用 Microsoft Excel 开发的数据提取格式提取数据，并使用 STATA 14 统计软件进行分析。采用乔安娜-布里格斯研究所（Joanna Briggs Institute）的流行病学研究关键评估工具对每篇文章的质量进行了评估。Cochrane Q 统计量和 I2 检验用于检查研究之间的异质性。按照国家和样本大小进行了分组分析。为了评估发表偏倚，使用了漏斗图和 Egger 回归检验：本系统综述和荟萃分析包括 11 项研究。东非孕妇对分娩恐惧的总体流行率为 27.86%。12）、无产前检查随访（AOR=2.65，95 %CI=1.48，4.74）和计划外怀孕（AOR=4.88，95 %CI=1.23，19.31）在统计学上与分娩恐惧相关：结论：总的分娩恐惧发生率较高。结论：分娩恐惧的总体发生率很高，曾发生过分娩并发症、社会支持差、初产妇、缺乏产前护理随访以及计划外怀孕在统计学上都与分娩恐惧有关。为解决这一问题，医疗服务提供者应注重为患有分娩恐惧症的孕妇提供个性化的心理支持。此外，鼓励全面的产前护理和加强社会网络也能减少分娩恐惧，促进孕产妇的福祉。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Midwifery 医学-护理

CiteScore

4.50

自引率

7.40%

发文量

221

审稿时长

13.4 weeks

期刊介绍： Midwifery publishes the latest peer reviewed international research to inform the safety, quality, outcomes and experiences of pregnancy, birth and maternity care for childbearing women, their babies and families. The journal’s publications support midwives and maternity care providers to explore and develop their knowledge, skills and attitudes informed by best available evidence. Midwifery provides an international, interdisciplinary forum for the publication, dissemination and discussion of advances in evidence, controversies and current research, and promotes continuing education through publication of systematic and other scholarly reviews and updates. Midwifery articles cover the cultural, clinical, psycho-social, sociological, epidemiological, education, managerial, workforce, organizational and technological areas of practice in preconception, maternal and infant care. The journal welcomes the highest quality scholarly research that employs rigorous methodology. Midwifery is a leading international journal in midwifery and maternal health with a current impact factor of 1.861 (© Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports 2016) and employs a double-blind peer review process.