Fear of Childbirth
Conditions
Keywords
Fear, Childbirth, Art therapy, Therapeutic conversations, W-DEQ
Brief summary
Earlier research has shown that pregnant women with a pronounced fear of childbirth have a significantly increased risk for birth complications and subsequent psychological trauma. In Sweden and also internationally, women in fear of childbirth are treated in many differing ways. Evidence for best care for these women is lacking. The Art Therapy method is a creative, psycho-therapeutic form of treatment which has been used for several decades within psychiatry. It has recently been seen that the Art Therapy method has positive effects during treatment for crisis reactions. Recruitment has recently been initiated for a randomized controlled study of Art Therapy for the treatment of fear of childbirth. The hypothesis for the study is as follows: H1 = treatment with Art Therapy and therapeutic conversations will result in a decrease in fear of childbirth when compared to treatment by therapeutic conversations only. The instrument which is to be used for measurement of childbirth fear is the Wijma Delivery Expectancy Questionnaire (W-DEQ). This is a well validated instrument which was developed in Sweden. A power calculation has shown a need for 62 x 2 participants; a total of 124 women.
Interventions
OTHERArt Therapy and therapeutic conversations
Treatment consists of five sessions of Art Therapy given by an authorised Art Therapist and therapeutic conversations with specialist midwives. Number of conversations is determined by the participant.
OTHERTherapeutic conversations
Therapeutic conversations with specialist midwives. Number of conversations is determined by the participant.
Sponsors
Helsingborgs Hospital
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Pregnant women * Pronounced fear of childbirth
Exclusion criteria
* Women with a current psychiatric diagnosis * Women who do not understand Swedish * Women with a current substance misuse
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Scores for the Wijma Delivery Expectancy Questionnaire (W-DEQ) | Change in W-DEQ scores measured at entry to the study (approximately gestational weeks 20 to 31) and again at gestational week 36. |
Countries
Sweden
Contacts
Primary ContactHelén Wahlbeck, Lic. Midwife
Backup ContactLinda J Kvist, PhD
Outcome results
None listed