a Department Woman-Mother-Child , Lausanne University Hospital , Lausanne , Switzerland.
b Division of Psychology , Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet , Stockholm , Sweden.
J Reprod Infant Psychol. 2018 Sep;36(4):393-405. doi: 10.1080/02646838.2018.1472749. Epub 2018 Jul 5.
Mental imagery may reflect the present, past or future. Childbirth is often anticipated with joy but also in some cases with fear, which may negatively impact on the childbirth experience. So far, research on birth-related mental imagery in pregnancy is lacking. This study aimed to investigate in detail the phenomenology of spontaneous childbirth-related mental images and the association between main imagery characteristics (valence, positive/negative percentage ratio and impact on behaviour and decision-making) and fear of childbirth.
A concurrent triangulation mixed methods design was employed. Thirty-seven nulliparous, French-speaking women, aged ≥ 18 years in their third trimester of pregnancy completed self-report questionnaires assessing fear of childbirth, spontaneous use of mental imagery, prenatal depression and trait anxiety, and participated in a mental imagery interview to assess spontaneous childbirth-related mental images. Women with a prenatal diagnosis of malformation were excluded.
All participants reported having spontaneous mental images of their impending childbirth. The images captured were rich in detail and included a variety of sensory modalities. More positive mental images were associated with less fear of childbirth (r = -0.533, p = .008) and women who had a higher proportion of negative mental images had a higher fear of childbirth (r = 0.428, p = .005). The impact of the most negative mental images on behaviour and decision-making was positively correlated with fear of childbirth (r = 0.342, p = .038).
Our results indicate that negative spontaneous childbirth-related imagery is associated with fear of childbirth. Intervention techniques could be developed that focus on enhancing positive childbirth-related mental images during pregnancy and thus fostering a more positive childbirth experience.
心理意象可以反映现在、过去或未来。分娩通常是充满喜悦的，但在某些情况下也会伴随着恐惧，这可能会对分娩体验产生负面影响。迄今为止，关于妊娠相关分娩心理意象的研究还很缺乏。本研究旨在详细调查自发分娩相关心理意象的现象学，以及主要意象特征（情感效价、积极/消极百分比比率以及对行为和决策的影响）与分娩恐惧之间的关系。
采用同时性三角交叉混合方法设计。37 名年龄在 18 岁及以上、母语为法语、处于妊娠晚期的初产妇完成了评估分娩恐惧、自发使用心理意象、产前抑郁和特质焦虑的自我报告问卷，并参与了心理意象访谈，以评估自发分娩相关的心理意象。患有产前畸形诊断的女性被排除在外。
所有参与者均报告了即将到来的分娩的自发心理意象。这些意象捕捉到了丰富的细节，包括各种感觉模式。更多积极的心理意象与较低的分娩恐惧相关（r=-0.533，p=0.008），而消极心理意象比例较高的女性分娩恐惧程度较高（r=0.428，p=0.005）。最消极的心理意象对行为和决策的影响与分娩恐惧呈正相关（r=0.342，p=0.038）。
我们的结果表明，消极的自发分娩相关意象与分娩恐惧相关。可以开发干预技术，重点在妊娠期间增强积极的分娩相关心理意象，从而促进更积极的分娩体验。
