Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and psycho-education on fear of natural childbirth and its related variables

Aim: The aim of the current study was the determination of the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in comparison with psycho-education, on the fear of childbirth and its related variables.
Method was quasi-experimental and the statistical population of nulliparous women from Ahvaz was 8000. Among them 54 women who had the entrance criteria for being considered in the research were selected. Selection was based on participants’ availability and they were randomly assigned to three groups of 18 women. Research tools were Wijma, Wijma and Zar’s Delivery Expectancy Questionnaire (1998) McCracken and Dhingra’s Pain Anxiety Symptoms (2002), Lowe’s Childbirth Self-Efficacy Inventory (1993), also nine sessions of 90-minute of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Niminen (2016) and six sessions of 90-minute of psycho-education (Rouhi, Salmela‐Aro, Toivanen, Tokola, Halmesmäki & Saisto, 2013) for two times a week. After removing eight persons due to their absentees in two-thirds of sessions, the data of 46 persons were analyzed by the use of covariance method and comparison of two independent ratios.
Result revealed that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy decreases the fear of childbirth (F= 70.64, P= 0.001), fear of pain (F= 4.25, P= 0.02) and increases the tendency to natural childbirth (Z= 3.12, P= 0.002) and self-efficacy of childbirth (F=108.73, P= 0.001) and its effectiveness on these variables is more than psych education. Psych education only led to the increase of self-efficacy of childbirth (F=108.73, P= 0.001) and a decrease of fear of childbirth (F= 70.64, P= 0.01). The difference in the final frequency of natural childbirth in the experimental group with the control group (Z= 1.56, P= 0.1) and psych education (Z= 0.7, P= 0.4) group was not significant.
Since Cognitive Behavioural Therapy uses behavioural strategies and targets the irrational thoughts of women toward natural childbirth, it leads to the decrease of fear of childbirth and more effective than psychological training in the aforementioned fields.