Fear of childbirth
Conditions
Interventions
The intervention group undergoes an eight-week psychological birth preparation program, which is provided via an online application with the name MyDoula. The program contains daily morning mindfulnes
Sponsors
Fachhochschule Potsdam
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
Female
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: Pregnant women between the 20.1 and 27.0 week of pregnancy
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: 1. Aged 17 years old and younger 2. German is not at a native language level 3. Taking psychotropic drugs, having a psychological diagnosis or being counselled by a psychologist, psychotherapist or psychiatrist at the time of the study 4. Pregnant women that give birth before finalizing the 8 weeks-MyDoula-App-Program (e.g. due to premature birth) 5. When people didn’t agree to be informed about incidental findings, e.g. high scores in the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) screening
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| 1. Negative birth expectations measured using the Wijma Delivery Expectations (W-DEQ) questionnaire at baseline and after 8 weeks 2. Support within the relationship measured using the “Relationship Assessment Scale” questionnaire at baseline 3. Depression Scores are measured using the “Edinburgh Depression Scale” questionnaire at baseline and 8 weeks later 4. Support within relationships measured using the “Social support instrument” questionnaire at baseline 5. Mother-Child-Bonding measured using the “Maternal antenatal attachment scale” questionnaire at baseline and 8 weeks later 6. Mental Wellbeing measured using the “Mental Wellbeing Scale” questionnaire at baseline and 8 weeks later 7. Mindfulness measured using the “Frankfurter Fragebogen Achtsamkeit (FFA)” questionnaire at baseline and 8 weeks later 8. Birth mindset measured using the “Mindset and Birth” questionnaire at baseline | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| 1. Dyadic coping mechanisms of participants measured using two items of the dyadic coping inventory (DCI) at baseline 2. Quality of current relationship measured using the relationship assessment scale (RAS) at baseline 3. Social support measured using the social support instrument (ESSI) at baseline 4. Prenatal mother-child bonding measured using the Maternal antenatal attachment scale (MAAS) at baseline and 8 weeks after baseline 5. Mental wellbeing measured using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) at baseline and 8 weeks after baseline 6. Mindfulness measured using the Frankfurter Fragebogen Achtsamkeit (FFA) at baseline and 8 weeks after baseline 7. Birthyear, sex, gender, German spoken and understood as native language, graduation, professional qualification, employment, professional position, management position, salary, number of persons in household, persons under 14 in household, marital status, taking psychotropic drugs (exclusion criteria), having psychotherapy (exclusion criteria), having a psychological diagnosis (exclusion criteria), having biological children, type of previous birth(s), type of previous negative birth experiences, abortion, miscarriage, pregnancy week, single/multiple pregnancy, planned pregnancy, worries about high/size of baby, complications during pregnancy, diseases regarding the unborn child, medical risk during pregnancy, worries/fears, main care person, satisfaction with pregnancy care, planned caesarian section (CS) and reasons, trauma, carrying out mindfulness exercises regularly, regular use of other pregnancy apps, using a birth preparation course, use of health apps, using online/offline offers regarding mental health, using online/offline offers regarding mindfulness measured using a Likert scale questionnaire at baseline 8. Pregnancy week, worries about high/size of the unborn baby, complications during pregnancy, diseases regarding the unborn child, medical risk during pregnancy, worries/fears, and pl | — |
Countries
Austria, Germany, Switzerland
Outcome results
None listed