Effects of health literacy education on adaptation to pregnancy, self-efficacy, fear of childbirth and health literacy in Turkish pregnant women: A randomized, controlled trial.

This research aims to evaluate the effects of health literacy (HL) education on Turkish pregnant women's adaptations to pregnancy, self-efficacy, fear of childbirth and HL levels. This was a randomised, controlled trial. The research was carried out in the Marmara region of Turkey between July 2018 and April 2019. This research was conducted with three groups including one control (n = 73) and two intervention (n = 109) groups. One of the intervention groups was given antenatal education (AE) for improving HL (HL-AE) (n = 53), and the other was provided AE (n = 56) only. A Pregnancy Information Form, Prenatal Self-Evaluation Questionnaire, Fear of Childbirth and The Postpartum Period Scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale and Turkey Health Literacy Scale-32 were used for data collection. Results show that adaptation to pregnancy, general self-efficacy and HL levels significantly improved while fear of childbirth decreased in the group that was provided HL-AE intervention group. Additional when the pre-education and post-education scale scores were compared in the AE group, it was found that there was a significant difference in other scale scores, but not for fear of childbirth.

Are midwifery students ready for the COVID-19 vaccine? The decision to vaccinate and affecting factors.

AIM: This study aims to determine the decision of midwifery students, who are the midwives of the future, on getting the COVID-19 vaccine and affecting factors. METHOD: The sample of this online cross-sectional study consisted of 1879 midwifery students in Turkey. The data collection tools of the study included a sociodemographic data form, the Health Literacy Index, Perception of Causes of COVID-19 and Attitudes Toward the COVID-19 Vaccine Scale. Descriptive statistics, correlation and linear regression analyses were used in the analysis of the data. FINDINGS: Among the participants, 65.7% (1235) did not want to get the COVID-19 vaccine. In this study, those who found childhood vaccines beneficial among the students, those reporting positive attitudes toward vaccinations and those who listened to the recommendations of health-care workers had higher rates of not wanting to get the COVID-19 vaccine. It was found that the students' decisions to get the vaccine were not affected by their health literacy levels. However, their attitudes toward vaccination were negatively effective, and their perceptions of COVID-19 causes were positively effective. CONCLUSION: In our study, the midwifery students who perceived the cause of COVID-19 as a conspiracy did not want to be vaccinated. Midwifery students should move away from the perception of conspiracy, and they should be informed about COVID-19 with scientific facts.

Factors that affect the traumatic childbirth perceptions of midwifery and nursing students: The case of Turkey.

INTRODUCTION: Birth is a natural and joyful situation as well as a process that contains surprise situations that do not go well. Caregivers at birth are affected by this process. Especially when faced with difficult births, it can have an intense psychological effect and a perception of traumatic birth can occur. Although there is research about midwives on this subject, there are very few studies about students who are becoming midwives. The aim of this study was to determine the factors that affect the traumatic childbirth perceptions of midwifery and nursing students. METHODS: The study was carried out with 480 students of midwifery and nursing. The data were collected by using a Personal Information Form, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Self-Efficacy Scale, Traumatic Childbirth Perception Scale, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. RESULTS: The traumatic childbirth perception levels were very low in 7.3% of the participants, low in 26.9%, moderate in 37.9%, high in 21.5% and very high in 6.9%. The regression analysis revealed a significant relationship between traumatic childbirth perceptions and the parameters of satisfaction with the department studied, fear of childbirth, defining childbirth as a difficult and painful process, and history of complicated birth in the family. There was also a significant relationship between traumatic childbirth perceptions and the parameters of trait anxiety and general self-esteem. CONCLUSIONS: Traumatic childbirth perceptions increased as the state and trait anxiety levels and self-esteem levels increased, while they decreased as the self-efficacy levels increased.