An evaluation of pregnant women's pain beliefs and coping styles, spouse support levels and birth preferences

This study aims to evaluate pregnant women's pain beliefs and pain coping styles, spouse support levels, and birth preferences. The study, which was descriptive and cross-sectional in nature, was conducted between 1st of October 2018 and 31st of March 2019. The target population was composed of pregnant women registered in the Family Health Centers located in the city center of Adana, and the sample was 386 pregnant women. Ethics Committee and Institutional Approval and informed consent of pregnant women were obtained for the study. Data were collected through the Socio-demographic Form, the Pain Beliefs Questionnaire, the Pain Coping Questionnaire, and the Spouse Support Scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis H, Spearman correlation, and Binary Logistic Regression model. The average age of the participating pregnant women was 27,49±4,41, 58 % had an education level of high school and below, 33,6% were in the third trimester, and 90,2% wanted to have vaginal delivery. The participants' Pain Beliefs Questionnaire Organic Beliefs sub-scale mean score was 3,78±1,03, Pain Beliefs Questionnaire Psychological Beliefs sub-scale mean score was 4,88±1,04, and Pain Coping Questionnaire Self-Management sub-scale mean score was 21,03±6,74; Pain Coping Questionnaire Helplessness sub-scale mean score was 12,12±4,49; Pain Coping Questionnaire Conscious Coping Attempts sub-scale mean score was 13,75±4,35; and Pain Coping Questionnaire Medical Remedies sub-scale mean score was 9,90±3,76; and Spouse Support Scale total mean score was 70,70±10,89. The results showed that the pain sources and treatment types of pregnant women mainly resulted from psychological beliefs, Pain Coping Questionnaire Self-Management, Helplessness and Conscious Coping Attempts sub-scale scores were moderate, and Medical Remedies sub-scale score was low, perceived spouse support level was good, and the majority of the participating pregnant women wanted to have vaginal delivery.