The effect of the childbirth education class and nursing care developed according to kolcaba's theory of comfort given to pregnant women who have the fear of birth on the fear of birth, birth experience, outcomes and comfort

Objective: In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the effect of the birth preparation training given to pregnant women who have the fear of birth and the effect of nursing care developed according to Kolcaba's theory of comfort on the fear of birth, birth experience, outcomes and comfort. Method: This research is a randomized controlled, single-blind and experimental study. The research was carried out with 46 women, including 21 in intervention group and 25 in control group. The intervention group received the birth preparation training, and a nursing care at birth developed according to Kolcaba's Theory of Comfort. The control group received the birth preparation training booklet and a standard care at birth. The data of the study were collected using the Wijma Delivery Expectancy Questionnaire Version A and B, the Comfort Behavior Checklist, the General Comfort Questionnaire, the Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale, and the Postpartum Breastfeeding Self-efficacy Scale. Non-parametric tests were used in the analysis of the data. Results: The level of fear of birth was found to be significantly low in the intervention group after the training (p<0.05). There was no difference found between the groups in terms of the birth type. In the intervention group, the latent and active phases of birth were shorter(p=0.002), the pain score was lower(p=0.000), the birth comfort was higher(p=0.002), the newborn APGAR score was higher(p=0.034), the ratio of intervention applied at birth was lower(p=0.04), the birth experience was more positive(p=0.001), the mother-to-infant bonding level was higher(p=0.000) and the level of postpartum breastfeeding self-efficacy was higher compared to the control group (p=0.000). Conclusion: It was found that the birth preparation training given to primiparous pregnants who have the fear of birth and the nursing care developed according to Kolcaba's Theory are effective on reducing the fear of birth, improving the birth outcomes, increasing the comfort during birth and postpartum period, developing a positive birth experience and increasing the level of mother-to-infant bonding and breastfeeding self-efficacy. Key words: Antenatal educations, Continuous labor support, Fear of childbirth, Kolcaba's comfort theory, Theory of nursing.