Investigation on the pregnant women's fear of childbirth and analysis of its influencing factors

Objective To investigate the pregnant women's fear of childbirth and its influencing factors, and analyze the relationship between fear of childbirth and social support. Methods A convenient sample of 101 pregnant women were recruited and investigated by using a self-made general information questionnaire, the Chinese version of Childbirth Attitudes Questionnaire (CAQ) and Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS). Results The dimension score of fetal health was higher than other three dimension of CAQ. There was a significant difference in CAQ score between pregnant women with different employment status(P＜0. 01). There was no correlation between social support level and fear of childbirth among pregnant women. Conclusion Findings of the study showed a high awareness of fetal health among pregnant women, and employment status is a potential influencing factor of attitude toward childbirth. Targeted interventions are required to improve the social support of women.