The magnitude and associated factors of childbirth fear among pregnant women attending antenatal care at public hospitals in Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Childbirth fear affects 5–40% of all mothers around the world, and there is mounting evidence that it has harmful impacts on women’s health. It could potentially lead pregnant women to feel isolated and unsupported if not identified. But studies addressing this issue are limited in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was aimed at assessing the magnitude and associated factors of childbirth fear among pregnant women attending antenatal care at public hospitals in West Wollega Zone. METHODS: Facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 304 pregnant women selected by systematic random sampling from 20 March to 20 April 2020. A structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was adapted and used to collect data. Data were entered into EpiData version 3.1 and exported to IBM SPSS statistics version 26 for analysis. Descriptive statistics were done to calculate frequencies, mean scores, and standard deviation. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with childbirth fear. Variables with p < 0.25 in bivariate analyses were selected for multivariable analysis. Finally, statistical significance was declared at p < 0.05. RESULTS: Out of the total of 304 participants, 298 completed the interview making the response rate 98%. The overall prevalence of childbirth fear was 28.9% with 95% CI (23.5, 34.2). Mean age of the respondents was 27.60 (SD ± 4.56) years. Having previous pregnancy complications [AOR (95% CI)], [6.949 (2.060 – 23.445), presence of long time during childbirth [AOR (95% CI)], [4.765 (1.161 – 19.564)], presence of episiotomy [AOR (95% CI)], [4.197 (1.107 – 15.917)], low social support [AOR (95% CI)], [.011 (.003 – .050)] were significantly associated with childbirth fear. CONCLUSION: Pregnant women in the study area have a significant level of childbirth fear. Previous pregnancy complications, prolonged labor, labor pain, previous perineal tear, and social support were all found to be significantly linked with childbirth fear. This calls for the need to identify and develop interventions for women to reduce childbirth fear during pregnancy.