The effects of antenatal education and telephone counseling on childbirth fear of nulliparous women and their attitudes toward childbirth: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of antenatal education and telephone counseling given to nulliparous women regarding their childbirth fear and attitudes toward childbirth.

Methods: The study design is a prospective, randomized controlled trial. The intervention group received antenatal education and telephone counseling between the 28th and 34th gestational weeks. Data were collected using the Personal Information Questionnaire, Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (WDEQ) Version A, WDEQ Version B, and Childbirth Attitudes Questionnaire.

Results: In terms of sociodemographic and obstetric characteristics, both groups were similar to each other. The mean WDEQ-A and Childbirth Attitudes Questionnaire scores of the intervention and control groups after receiving antenatal education and telephone counseling were 23.78±17.68 and 42.90±24.87 and 21.70±7.29 and 31.71±11.11, respectively. The childbirth fear and childbirth attitude of the intervention group that received antenatal education and counseling were statistically lower than the control group (p=0.001). The mean WDEQ-B scores were 22.82±24.09 and 97.18±32.57, respectively, in the intervention and control groups during the postpartum period. The postpartum childbirth fear of the intervention group was found to be extremely lower than the control group (p=0.001).

Conclusion: Imparting antenatal education and counseling on childbirth fear is an effective method to reduce childbirth fear and the negative attitudes toward childbirth in nulliparous women.

Registration number of the clinical trial: The study was registered at the ClinicalTrials.gov Protocol Registration and Results System (protocol ID number: NCT04173351).