Birth fear expectation and perception in pregnancy and postpartum period in respect of the planning status of pregnancy

This study was carried out as a comparative study in order to determine and compare the expectation of birth fear in pregnancy and postpartum birth fear of women according to the planning status of pregnancy and to investigate the relationship between traumatic childbirth perception and e expectation of birth fear in pregnancy and postpartum birth fear. The study was carried out in the obstetrics and gynecology clinic of Ahi Evran University Training and Research Hospital. In this study, a total of 190 pregnant women, 94 of which were not planned and 96 of which were planned; were reached between 26/02/2018 – 31/12/2018. Data were collected by the researcher using the face to face interview method. Pregnant women at 28-40 weeks of gestation were given the Descriptive Information Form I, Traumatic ChildBirth Perception Scale, Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (W-DEQ_ A version), and the same pregnant women were reached in the first three weeks after the birth and Descriptive Information Form I and Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (W-DEQ_ B version) were applied. Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis (frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation) and Mann Whitney-U Test, Kruskall Wallis H test, Pearson Moment Correlation, and Multiple Regression. As a result of this study, it was found that the fears of birth during pregnancy were very severe regardless of whether the pregnancy was planned or not, the fears toward birth were at the clinical level after birth. However, it was found that the expectation of birth fear did not differ according to the planning status of pregnancy (p>0.05). It was found that women who had unplanned pregnancy experienced fear of birth more intensively (p> 0.05). For pregnant women with high traumatic childbirth perception, the expectation of birth fear and experienced fear of birth were high (p <0.01) and pregnant women who had a high expectation of birth fear in pregnancy had higher postpartum birth fear (p<0.05). In this study, it was determined that traumatic childbirth perception was a significant predictor of birth expectancy and birth experience, %22 of the total variance of birth expectancy was explained with traumatic childbirth perception, and %09 of the total variance of female birth experience was explained with traumatic childbirth perception. The expectation of birth fear in women is a significant predictor of postpartum and experienced fear of birth. It was determined that %27 of the experienced birth fear can be explained with the expectation of birth fear in pregnancy. In line with these results, by determining women's birth perception and expectation of birth fear in prenatal care programs, it is offered to be planned nursing practises to reduce fear. Key Words: Fear of birth, Nursing, Planning Status of Pregnancy, Traumatic Childbirth Perception, W-DEQ_ A Scale, W-DEQ_ B Scale