[Anxiety and the presence of the father at childbirth].

The authors give a report of a follow-up the anxiety of 363 couples whereby the husband decided to be present at the childbirth and took part in the childbirth preparation courses. The anxiety state and anxiety trait in men was found to be significantly lower than in women. The data of women were compared to a matched control group consisting of 135 pregnant women. In cases where the husband was present at childbirth the anxiety state and anxiety trait of the women was considerably lower than in the control group. The degree of anxiety was found independent of age, educational level, occupation but depended of parity. During the childbirth preparation the anxiety state of the husbands reduced considerably, whereas in the women the trend of increasing anxiety state could be prevented. In the group where the husband was present at childbirth the authors did not find any close relationship between the degree of anxiety and the examined obstetrical parameters (gestational age at labour, outcome and duration of labour, and the birth-weight.