Current situation of parturiophobia and its correlation with prenatal preferred delivery mode in Changning District, Shanghai / 中华围产医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To analyze the prevalence of parturiophobia and its association with preferred mode of delivery in pregnant women in Changning District, Shanghai.Methods:A cross- sectional study was conducted among 1 560 pregnant women in the third trimester who had their antenatal examination in Changning Maternity and Infant Health Hospital from September 2020 to March 2021. Fear of childbirth was measured with a validated Chinese version of Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire version A (W-DEQ-A). Based on the W-DEQ-A scores, the participants were divided into two groups non-clinical parturiophobia group [<85 scores, including mild (≤37 scores), moderate (38-65 scores) and severe (66-84 scores) parturiophobia] and clinical parturiophobia group (≥85 scores). Rank-sum test, Chi-square test and t-test were used for univariate analysis. Multivariate binary logistic regression was used to analyze the factors associated with fear of childbirth and its relationship with preferred mode of delivery. Results:The detection rates of mild, moderate, severe and clinical parturiophobia were 18.8% (294/1 560), 44.9% (700/1 560), 31.1% (485/1 560) and 5.2% (81/1 560), respectively. Multivariate binary logistic regression showed that the participants who were supported by relatives and friends to have cesarean section ( OR=3.45, 95% CI 1.29-9.22) or had antenatal anxiety ( OR=4.73, 95% CI 2.49-8.97) were more likely to have clinical parturiophobia, while those with planned pregnancy ( OR=0.49, 95% CI 0.29-0.82), high intensity physical activity ( OR=0.36, 95% CI 0.18-0.72) or better/well understanding of the delivery process ( OR=0.42, 95% CI 0.19-0.97) were less likely to develop clinical parturiophobia (all P<0.05). Compared with the non-clinical parturiophobia women, those with clinical parturiophobia were more likely to choose cesarean section ( OR=2.15, 95% CI 1.22-3.78, P=0.008). Conclusions:The detection rates of severe and clinical parturiophobia are 31.1% and 5.2% in Changning District, Shanghai. The associated factors mainly include the attitudes of relatives and friends towards the mode of delivery, antenatal anxiety, planned pregnancy or not, physical activity level and the understanding of delivery process. Clinical parturiophobia might be an important factor for cesarean section on maternal request.