Effects of a Parenting Preparation Course on Preferred Mode of Delivery, Fear of Childbirth, and Perception of Traumatic Childbirth in Midwifery Students

The research was carried out to examine the effect of a parenting preparation course given to midwifery students during an academic semester on the preferred mode of delivery, fear of childbirth, and traumatic birth perception.

This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design that included 47 second-year students enrolled in the parenting preparation course. Students took the parenthood preparation course, 2 hours a week, for 14 weeks. Data were collected using a descriptive information form, the pre-pregnancy fear of birth scale, and the perception of traumatic birth scale. Paired t-test and chi-square test were used to evaluate intragroup and intergroup differences. The data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 software at a statistical significance of 0.05.

The mean age of the students was 20.13±0.67 years. The mean score of pre-pregnancy fear of childbirth was 40.46±9.37 in the pretest and 23.61±6.79 in the posttest. In addition, the mean score of traumatic childbirth perception decreased from 77.34±25.15 in the pretest to 39.44±13.78 in the posttest. The number of students who preferred cesarean section decreased significantly, while the number of students who preferred vaginal delivery increased after the preparation course.

Parenting preparation classes can contribute to the reduction of fear of childbirth and the perception of traumatic childbirth in women.