Influencia del miedo prenatal en el desarrollo y experiencia de parto

Résumé

Giving birth is one of the most extraordinary experiences in a woman's life, but it will be marked at all times by multiple factors that will determine the evolution and development of the entire process. Most pregnant women suffer from fear of childbirth (FOC), which, together with their personality characteristics, previous life experiences, pregnancy and childbirth circumstances, etc., will establish the peculiarities of the childbirth experience itself. The objective of this study was to analyze how prenatal fear affects the birth experience, establish a relationship with the influential variables throughout the pregnancy process, and thus be able to evaluate the related consequences. For this, a descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in a sample of 414 women between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022. The Childbirth Anticipation Scale (BAS) was used to measure fear of childbirth during the third trimester of pregnancy (35 weeks) and the Childbirth Experience Questionnaire (CEQ-E) was applied to measure satisfaction with the childbirth experience. I give birth a few weeks after this, in the postpartum period. Fear of childbirth was negatively and significantly correlated with the experience of childbirth. In addition, women who were more fearful of childbirth were found to have worse obstetric outcomes and a higher chance of having a caesarean section. Fostering active listening and support strategies, during the prenatal and postnatal period, can increase the confidence of pregnant women, thus reducing their fear of the process and improving their childbirth experience, and even a healthy and satisfactory puerperium