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Women with a fear of childbirth have an increased risk of mental health problems than non-fearful women …
… 6-10% of all pregnant women suffer from a severe fear of childbirth … women with a fear of childbirth had significantly more mental health problems than non-fearful women. From the group of women with a fear of childbirth, 54% had received psychiatric care … compared to 33.6% of the control group.
… women with a fear of childbirth delivered significantly more often by elective caesarean section (35.6% vs. 8.4%). Furthermore, women with a fear of childbirth attempting a vaginal delivery were more likely to have an emergency caesarean section and use medical pain relief.
… All the women with a fear of childbirth were sent for consultation and received psychological support for their fear by trained midwives, psychologists and obstetricians.
The study excluded cases in which a potential serious perinatal complication could have influenced the maternal psychological wellbeing during pregnancy or after delivery, for example, giving birth to twins, preterm birth, perinatal deaths or women with placenta praevia.
… “Overall, the study found a surprising number of women of childbearing age who had mental health problems …
“Specific clinical guidelines on how to treat women fearing childbirth or demanding a caesarean section should be developed. Often the only sign of the fear of childbirth is the constant request for a caesarean section.” …