EVALUATION OF FEAR OF BIRTH AT THE END OF PREGNANCY AND PERINATAL OUTCOMES

• Grant number: 23/12289-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2023
• End date: October 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Roseli Mieko Yamamoto Nomura
• Grantee: Marcela Almeida Bazaga
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Pregnancy is a phase of many changes - not only bodily, but also psychological and emotional - experienced by a woman. During this period, fear of childbirth is present and can become pathological, harming both maternal and fetal well-being, mainly due to the lack of psychosocial support and other factors, such as lack of knowledge about childbirth and pre-existence of mood disorders. Objective: The objective of this research is to study the fear of childbirth at the end of pregnancy, in current times. Methods: The study consists of a secondary analysis of data collected for a survey by the Department of Obstetrics of the Escola Paulista de Medicina da Universidade Federal de São Paulo - (EPM-UNIFESP), which involved a population of postpartum women who gave birth at the Maternidade Amparo Maternal during the data collection period. Women aged over 18 years old were included in this research; who gave birth of a single newborn, alive and without malformations; with absence of psychiatric diagnosis in follow-up or treatment; gestational age at delivery over 36 weeks; clinical conditions that allow answering surveys; and agree to participate in the study. The Fear of Childbirth Assessment Questionnaire validated in Portuguese in Brazil was applied, with 25 questions in 6 subscales, being them physical somatization, panic, social involvement, interference in daily habits, pregnancy avoidance and self-perception. Each item evaluated is assigned a score between 0 and 5 and the sum of points will be a parameter used to assess fear of childbirth.