OBJECTIVES To study how reproductive risks and perinatal outcomes are associated with postpartum depression treated in specialised healthcare defined according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 codes, separately among women with and without a history of depression. DESIGN A retrospective population-based case-control study. SETTING Data gathered from three national he...

BACKGROUND Fear of childbirth has negative consequences for a woman's physical and emotional wellbeing. The most commonly used measurement tool for childbirth fear is the Wijma Delivery Expectancy Questionnaire (WDEQ-A). Although originally conceptualized as unidimensional, subsequent investigations have suggested it is multidimensional. This study aimed to undertake a detailed psychometric ass...

BACKGROUND South Sudan has one of the world's poorest health indicators due to a fragile health system and a combination of socio-cultural, economic and political factors. This study was conducted to identify barriers to utilisation of institutional childbirth services in Rumbek North County. METHODS Data were collected through 14 focus group discussions with 169 women and 45 men, and 18 key ...

OBJECTIVES To investigate the obstetric and psychological characteristics of women who opt to use epidural analgesia (EDA) during labour and the impact of participating in labour preparation courses on women's decisions to use EDA. DESIGN Longitudinal cohort study. SETTING Akershus University Hospital, Norway. POPULATION 2596 women with singleton pregnancies and intended vaginal delivery....

BACKGROUND Approximately 25 % of pregnant women suffer from a high level of Fear of Childbirth (FoC), as assessed by the Wijma Delivery Expectancy Questionnaire (W-DEQ-A, score ≥66). FoC negatively affects pregnant women's mental health and adaptation to the perinatal period. Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP) seems to be potentially effective in decreasing pregnancy-related anxi...

The propose of this study is to investigate the factor structures of the W-DEQ, originally developed on UK and Swedish women, were confirmed in Turkish samples, and to obtain a new modified factor structure appropriate to Turkish culture. Statistical analyses of the data obtained were performed using SPSS for Windows version 13.0 and the SAS statistical software Version 9.1. Both confirmatory a...

BACKGROUND Childbirth by cesarean section has increased at an alarming rate over the past few years in Iran. The present study was designed to explore pregnant women's beliefs about the mode of delivery in order to provide some suggestions for future interventions to increase vaginal delivery. METHODS This was a qualitative study framed by the Theory of Planned Behavior conducted in Tehran, I...

OBJECTIVE Most pregnant women are anxious about the delivery and up to 30% develop varying degrees of fear of childbirth (FOC). Secondary FOC occurs in parous women who have experienced a traumatic delivery. The aim of this study was to investigate the time to subsequent delivery and delivery outcome in women with secondary FOC, compared with a reference group. SETTING Southeast Sweden. SAM...