Personality, fear of childbirth and birth outcomes in nulliparous women

This study was aimed at investigating the delivery continuum starting from constant personality variables and their association with Fear of childbirth (FOC) pre-partum, following the association of FOC pre-partum with the delivery process (as measured by birth outcome variables and subjective experience) and the effect of all of these variables over FOC post-partum. In this prospective questionnaire study, 101 nulliparous, singleton pregnancy, healthy parturients were randomly recruited during 2011. Questionnaires were administered on admittance to the delivery ward (FOC, anxiety-sensitivity index, demographic information) and 2 days post-partum (FOC, Big five inventory and a question regarding the birth experience). Medical Variables were taken from medical records. FOC pre- and post-partum were associated with neuroticism (p < 0.05; p < 0.01) and anxiety sensitivity (p < 0.01). FOC pre-partum was correlated with mode of delivery, higher FOC pre-partum associated with instrumental delivery and emergency CS (p < 0.01). FOC post-partum was associated with both mode of delivery and length of the second phase of delivery (p < 0.05). Hierarchical regression analysis showed FOC pre-partum (beta = 0.35, p < 0.01), anxiety sensitivity (beta = 0.38, p < 0.01), mode of delivery (beta = 0.19, p < 0.05) and birth experience (beta = -0.17, p < 0.05) as major predictors for high FOC post-partum explaining 61 % of variance (F ((7,84)) = 16.82; p < 0.001). The difference between FOC levels pre- and post-partum was associated with personality variables and birth outcomes resulting in a model describing the variance in FOC post-partum by all of the above mentioned variables. As the implications of FOC over delivery outcomes are evident, women suffering from FOC pre-partum should be screened routinely before delivery and offered proper care.