Obstetric outcomes for nulliparous women who received routine individualized treatment for severe fear of childbirth - a retrospective case control study

BACKGROUND: To study pregnancy and delivery outcomes in nulliparous women with severe FOC (fear of childbirth), all of whom had received routine treatment for their FOC and to make comparisons with a healthy reference group of nulliparous women. To study the possible relationship between the number of FOC-treatment sessions and the delivery method. METHODS: All nulliparous women with a diagnose FOC who received routine treatment for FOC (n = 181) and a reference group of nulliparous women without FOC (n = 431) at a university and a county hospital in the south east region of Sweden were analysed. Data from antenatal and delivery medical records were used to study outcome. RESULTS: The majority of women with severe FOC had a vaginal delivery. The incidence of elective CS was greater in the index group than in the reference group (p < 0.001). The total number of women with a planned CS in the index group was 35 (19.4%) and in the control group 14 (3.2%). Thus, on average five women per year received an elective CS during the study years due to severe FOC. The women in the index group who wished to have a CS were similar to the other women in the index group with reference to age, BMI, chronic disease but had been in in-patient care more often during their pregnancy than those who did not ask for CS (p = 0.009). CONCLUSION: In this study of women treated for severe FOC, the majority gave birth vaginally and no relationship was found between number of treatment sessions and mode of childbirth.