Zeng Tieying, Yuan Mengmei, Wu Meiliyang, Chen Ye, Zhang Ke
Department of Nursing, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
School of Nursing, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Front Psychol. 2023 Feb 23;14:1110116. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1110116. eCollection 2023.
Fear of birth (FOB) is becoming increasingly recognized as a mental health issue that may endanger maternal and infant health and affects women's subsequent fertility desires. It has also been shown to be related to the choice of delivery mode. Given the differences in healthcare systems and policies between countries, and the gaps in the exploration of women's experience of fear of birth and its association with the delivery mode in the Chinese cultural context, this study thus attempt to understand Chinese women's experience with fear of birth and their preferences for delivery mode through a qualitative study.
A descriptive qualitative research was performed among twenty pregnant women from the obstetric outpatient of a tertiary hospital in China. Colaizzi's method was used to analyze the participants' data.
We proposed three themes and nine subthemes on the participants' experience with fear of birth: (1) an invisible dilemma: trapped in lingering fear (fear of all sides, the untold loneliness, and ambivalence with mixed feelings); (2) an unexpected decision: choose to give birth naturally (initiative selection and passive acceptance); and (3) A strength to confront challenges head-on: move forward with fear (awaken of maternal spirit, hope in bloom, Chinese tolerance culture, and obstetric analgesia).
Fear of birth is a complex emotion, accompanied by feelings of loneliness and ambivalence in addition to fear. We found that women with fear of birth in this study prefer vaginal birth, and it was revealed to be the result of a combined action of intrinsic and extrinsic factors.
分娩恐惧（FOB）正日益被视为一个可能危及母婴健康并影响女性后续生育意愿的心理健康问题。研究还表明，它与分娩方式的选择有关。鉴于各国医疗保健系统和政策存在差异，以及在中国文化背景下对女性分娩恐惧经历及其与分娩方式关联的探索存在差距，本研究试图通过定性研究了解中国女性的分娩恐惧经历及其对分娩方式的偏好。
对中国一家三级医院产科门诊的20名孕妇进行了描述性定性研究。采用Colaizzi法分析参与者的数据。
我们就参与者的分娩恐惧经历提出了三个主题和九个次主题：（1）无形的困境：困于挥之不去的恐惧之中（全方位的恐惧、难言的孤独以及五味杂陈的矛盾情绪）；（2）意外的决定：选择自然分娩（主动选择与被动接受）；（3）直面挑战的力量：带着恐惧前行（母性精神的觉醒、希望绽放、中国的包容文化以及产科镇痛）。
分娩恐惧是一种复杂的情绪，除恐惧外还伴有孤独感和矛盾情绪。我们发现，本研究中有分娩恐惧的女性更倾向于顺产，这是内在和外在因素共同作用的结果。
