Evaluation of Pregnancy Information Classes Trainings on Birth Fear and Birth Method Selection

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to reveal the effect of antenatal education class trainings on the fear of birth and the choice of method of birth.
METHODS: The study was carried out on 53 pregnant women who met the research criteria and participated in the antenatal education class established in a hospital affiliated to the Isparta Provincial Health Directorate between December 2017 and July 2018. The data were collected with the questionnaire form, Pregnancy and Birth Fear scale before the training and after all the trainings. In the evaluation of the data obtained, the number, percentage, and independent Mann–Whitney U test were used to test for differences between groups, and Kruskal–Wallis H test was used for comparisons among more than 2 groups. Wilcoxon signed-rank test and dependent t test were applied for the comparison of 2 pair-wise samples.
RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was determined to be 26.9 ± 4.3 years and the mean gestational age was 25.1 ± 6.3 weeks. The mean total score was 5.88 ± 1.39 before the training; it was found to be 4.48 ± 1.44 after the training and the difference between them was found to be statistically significant (P <.001). A statistically significant relationship was found between pregnant women considering cesarean birth before training and pregnant women considering normal birth after training (P <.05).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: In the current study, it was found that antenatal education class training decreased the fear of birth and affected the choice of method of birth.