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The Effect of Psychodrama for Treating Fear of Childbirth

Psychodrama as a New Intervention for Treating Fear of Childbirth: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04690881
Enrollment
150
Registered
2020-12-31
Start date
2018-12-03
Completion date
2020-12-01
Last updated
2021-01-05

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Fear of Childbirth

Keywords

Fear of childbirth, Pychodrama, Psychoeducation, Childbirth-antenatal education

Brief summary

This study is a randomized controlled study. This research was carried out with the aim of determining the effect of psychodrama-based pregnancy education program on fear of childbirth (FOC). The population of the study consisted of 18-45 years old pregnant who with high fear of childbirth. The sample of the study was determined as 150 pregnant with confidence level of 95% and theoretical power of 95%. The pregnant women were divided into two groups of 75 pregnant. In addition to routine pregnancy training, a 90-minute psychodrama study was carried out to the experimental group. Data were collected using the information form, Wijma Delivery Expectancy/ Experience Questionnaire Version A (W-DEQ), Wijma Delivery Expectation / Experience Questionnaire Version B (W-DEQ), City Birth Trauma Scale and Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale. The data obtained were assesment using the SPSS (Version 21.0) package program on the computer.

Detailed description

The pregnant women were divided into two groups of 75 pregnant. In addition to the 6-week routine pregnancy training, a 90-minute psychodrama study was conducted to the experimental group. The experimental group was divided into 6 subgroups and trained (min = 9, max = 14). The control group was divided into 6 subgroups and trained (min = 11, max = 14). Prenatal psychodrama is held by psychodrama psychotherapists in individual and group therapy sessions. In these sessions the pregnant mother encounters herself, her baby, her partner, her mother, her fear of childbirth and the moment of birth; she may act as protagonist in some scenes and in this way she closes any unfinished business from the past and rehearses the future in a safe therapeutic environment.Data were collected using the information form, Wijma Delivery Expectancy/ Experience Questionnaire Version A (W-DEQ), Wijma Delivery Expectation / Experience Questionnaire Version B (W-DEQ), City Birth Trauma Scale and Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale. The data obtained were assesment using the SPSS (Version 21.0) package program on the computer.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALPsychodrama group psychotherapy

In order to reduce the fear of cihildbirth, pregnant women are given 90 minutes right after the training in addition to the routine pregnancy training. In the psychodrama-based pregnancy education program, fear of childbirth were assesment by sociometric measurement in order to increase the awareness of pregnant women about birth fear levels in the first week. Afterwards, they were given the opportunity to express themselves about the factors that may cause fear in pregnant women (their previous traumatic experiences, negative prejudices about childbirth, etc). The group members shared about their process in the first session and the session was ended. The session was evaluated with other researchers. In the following sessions, in order to strengthen their coping with the fear of childbirth, besides psychodrama warm-up games, the basic techniques of psychodrama, role switching, matching and mirror were used in protogonist works.

Sponsors

Marmara University
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
18 Years to 45 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* willing to participate in the study voluntarily, * non-disabled (hearing, seeing, understanding), * having 38 or more points from Wijma Birth Experience / Expectation Scale A, * living with his wife, * primipary, * not diagnosed with risky pregnancy and * women with suitable weeks of gestation (between 20-30 weeks) were included in the study.

Exclusion criteria

* those who were diagnosed with risky pregnancy during the training, * did not attend the first week of the pregnancy training program, * were absent for more than a week, * had difficulty following group studies, * completed the forms incompletely, and * did not want to continue working / gave up from the study.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Fear of childbirth6 weekWijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (W-DEQ): The minimum and maximum scores that can be obtained from the questionnaire are 0 and 165, respectively. Higher scores indicate greater levels of Fear of Childbirth.
Fear of ChildbirthPostpartum 7-14 daysWijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire version B: The minimum and maximum scores that can be obtained from the questionnaire are 0 and 160, respectively. Higher scores indicate greater levels of Fear of Childbirth.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Postpartum posttraumatic stressPostpartum 6. MonthsCity Birth Trauma Scale:Total scores can range from 0 to 60. Higher scores are indicative of a greater number of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms.

Countries

Turkey (Türkiye)

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026