Prevalence and factors associated with fear of childbirth: national online survey of Brazilian adults.
Andrezza Belluomini Castro, Rafaela Aparecida Prata, Marla Andréia Garcia de Avila and 1 others
PMID 42659482WHAT IT FOUND
Fear of childbirth was reported by 71.6% of 528 Brazilian adults; 26.9% had high fear.
Older age and men had lower scores, while previous pregnancy experience had higher scores.
Key findings
01Fear of childbirth was reported by 378 of 528 participants (71.6%), and 142 participants (26.9%) were classified as having high fear.
02In the multivariate analysis, older age was associated with lower fear scores (b = -0.17; p < 0.001), and men scored 3.6 points lower than women (b = -3.48; p < 0.001).
03Participants with previous pregnancy experience scored 4.5 points higher than those who reported no childbirth experience (b = 4.52; p = 0.005).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The authors state the non-probabilistic, intentional sample restricts generalising the findings to the Brazilian population. The authors state lower male participation may have influenced the gender comparison. The authors state online recruitment may have excluded people in socially vulnerable situations with limited internet access, electronic equipment, or low digital proficiency. The study analysed 528 of 671 people who agreed to participate, so exclusions may have changed the sample.
Declared interests
Part of the study was financed by a graduate support programme at UNESP, and the paper was extracted from a doctoral dissertation.
The easy way to misread this
Do not generalise the 71.6% prevalence to all Brazilian adults. The authors state the non-probabilistic, intentional sample restricts generalising the findings.