The effect of online childbirth training on childbirth anxiety and fear levels of pregnant women in prenatal period

ÖZYURT, Rasime. The Effect of Online Childbirth Training on Childbirth Anxiety and Fear Levels of Pregnant Women in Prenatal Period (Master Thesis), Çankırı, 2025. Anxiety and fear of varying severity can be seen in women during the pregnancy process starting with fertilization and ending with birth. This study is a quasi-experimental research with a pretest-posttest design in order to evaluate the effect of online education about labor given to pregnant women who applied to the pregnancy school on their anxiety and fear levels. It was conducted with 43 pregnant women at the Pregnancy School affiliated to Kastamonu Education and Research Hospital. Pregnant women were given online training consisting of two parts and lasting three hours. Oxford Childbirth Anxiety Scale (OWLS) and Wijma Childbirth Expectation/Experience Scale (W-DEQ) Version A were applied to the pregnant women before and after the training. When the pretest-posttest results were examined, it was found that there was no significant change in the mean scores of W-DEQ A scale pretest (54,37±21,90) and posttest (54,33±23,33) and OWLS pretest (27,44±7,19) and posttest (28,51±6,65) (p>0,05). No significant difference was found between the scale scores and the descriptive and obstetric characteristics of the pregnant women (p>0,05), and it was found that the mean score of W-DEQ A pretest scale (67,00±7,65) of those who received infertility treatment was significantly higher than those who did not receive infertility treatment (53,07±22,51) (p<0,05). It has been determined that women receiving infertility treatment experienced more severe fear of childbirth before the training. It has been found that there was no change in the levels of fear and anxiety of pregnant women regarding childbirth after the training. Midwives/Nurses are advised to assess pregnant women in terms of fear and anxiety of childbirth and provide interventions to reduce the fear and anxiety of childbirth, and in order to make training more effective, it is thought that providing training supported by face-to-face and interactive methods will improve the anxiety and fear levels of pregnant women. Key Words: Pregnant, Training, Childbirth Anxiety, Childbirth Fear, Nursing.