The Effect of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy on Fear of Childbirth and Causes of Fear of Childbirth in Primiparous Women

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of cognitive-behavioral therapy on fear of childbirth and causes of fear in pregnant women who have their first childbirth.The study population consisted of 50 primiparouswomen who were selected by purposive sampling methodand randomly assigned into two experimental and control groups (each group consisting of 25).The intervention period was in the third month of pregnancy in the experimental group.Nine 90-minute sessions of cognitive-behavioral therapy training were performed by the researcher on the experimental group and the control group did not receive any specific intervention.The research instruments included Harman (1988) Fear of Childbirth Questionnaire and Harman (1988) Causes of Fear of Childbirth.Data were analyzed byAnalysis using Covariance was.Findings showed that there was a significant difference between the experimental group and the control group for both variables of fear of childbirth and causes of fear of childbirth (p≥0.001).In addition, the subscale of pain had the most decrease and the subgroup of preterm labor had the least decrease.The results indicate that cognitive-behavioral therapy is effective in reducing the fear of childbirth and its causes.Psychological training, however small, for pregnant women could bring great relief. Decreasing the rate of psychological problems of pregnant women such as their fear and anxiety could have an increasing effect on their control over their emotions and attitudes and ultimately on their mental health.