Hypochondriacal fears and beliefs in pregnancy

Midwifery, 2019

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Fear of childbirth (FOC) is an important psychological problem that is studied worldwide because it affects the well-being of pregnant women. However, in Russia, this problem does not receive adequate attention among researchers. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the conditionality of fear of childbirth (FOC) in pregnant women by external and internal factors, which we assumed were the reasons for this fear. As external factors, we considered socio-demographic indicators (e.g., age, marital status, level of education, housing, and the attitude of relatives towards pregnancy) as well as indicators of gynecological history (e.g., the term of pregnancy, the outcome of previous pregnancies, and pregnancy complications). As internal (psychological) factors of the fear of childbirth, we considered personal anxiety as well as general inclination towards and negative consequences of different fears (20 types of fears and phobias were examined). The study was conducted with a Russian sample of 76 women at different stages of pregnancy and with different socio-demographic indicators and gynecological histories. The analysis of the results showed the absence of significant differences between women who were pregnant with FOC and those without this fear in terms of the external factors considered in this study. According to the study's data, a general inclination of women to fear is associated with fear of childbirth. However, the findings for the women with FOC did not indicate significant positive correlations between the level of this fear and exposure to any of the 20 types of fear and phobias measured in the study. Furthermore, the results did not detect relationships between the FOC level and women's personal anxiety. The results allow us to conclude that FOC is a separate phenomenon that is not dependent on other phobias and fears. Fear of childbirth has a subjective and highly individual genesis. It is not a direct consequence of objective factors, and it cannot be predicted based on women's personal characteristics (in particular, anxiety). For further study of this problem, we suggest that researchers identify different types of FOC and describe their content as a way to help develop practical methods of providing psychological assistance for women during pregnancy.

Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of Midwives, 2017

The prevalence of fear of birth has been estimated between 8-30%, but there is considerable heterogeneity in research design, definitions, measurement tools used and populations. There are some inconclusive findings about the stability of childbirth fear. to assess the prevalence and characteristics of women presenting with scores ≥60 on FOBS-The Fear of Birth Scale, in mid and late pregnancy, and to study change in fear of birth and associated factors. A prospective longitudinal cohort study of a one-year cohort of 1212 pregnant women from a northern part of Sweden, recruited in mid pregnancy and followed up in late pregnancy. Fear of birth was assessed using FOBS-The fear of birth scale, with the cut off at ≥60. The prevalence of fear of birth was 22% in mid pregnancy and 19% in late pregnancy, a statistically significant decrease. Different patterns were found where some women presented with increased fear and some with decreased fear. The women who experienced more fear or less ...

Research Square (Research Square), 2023

International Journal of Nursing Studies, 2016

What is already known about the topic? Pregnancy-related anxiety (PrA) constitutes a distinct concept from general anxiety and depression and is more strongly associated with maternal and child outcomes. Several recent reviews identified the need for a welldeveloped scale with a rigorous theoretical basis for the assessment of PrA. The assessment of PrA has been limited, mainly due to its poor conceptualization. What this paper adds Three critical attributes, three antecedents, four consequences, and nine dimensions for PrA were identified and a definition of the concept was proposed. Current tools are useful to determine whether the concept exists and to capture selected domains. A tool that includes all dimensions and examines the consequences and severity of PrA is needed. This knowledge provides nursing and midwifery professions with a conceptual basis to identify PrA and also constitutes a groundwork for further development of the concept.

Midwifery

to examine the psychometric properties of the Greek version of the Cambridge Worry Scale (CWS) and to assess worries during pregnancy.public hospital in Athens, Greece.a cross sectional study.one hundred and thirty two pregnant women with a gestational age between 11 and 14 weeks who were booked for antenatal screening.CWS was ‘forward–backward’ translated from English into Greek. The translated instrument was pilot-tested and administered to a sample of 132 pregnant women. Principal component analysis with promax rotation was used to test the factor structure of CWS. Measures of state-trait anxiety (STAI) and depression (CES-D) were used to assess the convergent validity of CWS. Cronbach's α was used to measure internal consistency of the FPI scales.results from exploratory factor analysis suggested the existence of four factors. Therefore, the Greek version replicated the original factor structure. Construct validity was confirmed by computing correlations between the CWS factors and conceptually similar constructions of anxiety, and depression. Internal consistency reliability was satisfactory. The major worries that pregnant women referred to were the possibility that something might be wrong with the baby, the process of giving birth, financial issues and the possibility of miscarriage.the CWS was found to have a relatively stable factor structure and satisfactory reliability and convergent and discriminant validity. CWS may enable researchers and clinicians to apply a reliable measure that focuses on worries during pregnancy.

Psychological topics, 2016

The review summarizes the relevant literature regarding fear of childbirth. A substantial number of (pregnant) women are more or less afraid of childbirth and a significant minority; report a severe fear of childbirth. The focus will be on definition problems, its features, prevalence, assessment methods and measurements, determinants, consequences and treatment methods. To date, there is still no consensus about the exact definition of severe fear of childbirth. However, there is agreement that women with severe fear of childbirth are concerned about the well-being of themselves and their infants, the labor process, and other personal and external conditions. In studies on prenatal anxiety and fear of childbirth, various kinds of diagnostic methods have been used in the past. Recently, there is a consensus to determine severe fear of childbirth by using the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire. The aetiology of fear of childbirth is likely to be multi-factorial and ma...

Objective: This study was conducted with the aim of determining the level of anxiety and problems experienced by pregnant women in their last trimester who came to the prenatal clinic for check-up and pregnant women who are hospitalized because of a risk factor related to pregnancy Method: The research was conducted as a descriptive and comparative study. 100 women having a high risk pregnancy and 100 women experiencing a healthy pregnancy participated in the research. Women's anxiety was measured using Spielberger's State and Trait Anxiety Inventory. Results: In this study both the healthy (X=50.59) and the at-risk pregnant women (X=50.43) had trait anxiety score means clearly higher than normal. In addition, although not as high as the trait anxiety score means, both the at-risk (X=42.17) and the healthy pregnant women (X=43.17) had higher than normal state anxiety score means. The hospitalized pregnant women's highest rate of anxiety was that their current risk factor...

Anadolu psikiyatri dergisi, 2014

Objective: In this study, it was aimed to investigate the influence of prenatal risk indicator scores of pregnant women on mental symptoms. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out with 142 pregnant women who were admitted to obstetrics clinic of a state hospital in İzmir province and who stated that they were not diagnosed with any psychiatric diseases. A form questioning socio-demographic and obstetric characteristics of pregnant women, Prenatal Risk Indicator aiming at determining risk of pregnant women and Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) aiming at screening mental symptoms were used for data collection. Results: The most common risk factors according to risk indicator were detected as experiencing urinary tract infection during the current pregnancy, being nulliparous, receiving late or insufficient prenatal care and inadequate weight gain and almost half of the pregnant women were found to be high risk. In addition, it was found that BSI scores were low, paranoid thought scores were high in high risk women and there was a positive correlation and phobic anxiety scores of all pregnant women were equal. Conclusion: High risk pregnant women were detected to have paranoid thoughts and all pregnant women found to experience phobic anxiety equally.

Positions, 2019

What matters for "biopolitical investigations," writes Roberto Esposito (2006: 7) in a recent article devoted to the "History of Concepts and the Ontology of Actuality," "is not the relationship between before and after, but the one between inside and outside. This is how an 'outside' -in this case life -enters into something else (something that is thought to be other) and transforms, twists, or undermines it. What is at stake are not the forms, but the forces [le forze], that is, the way in which these forces are exploding the forms." In this brief contribution, I would like to again take up Esposito's point, albeit in a different context from the highly philosophical one in which his thought operates. The tense relation between inside and outside (between forces and forms) will be analyzed here with specific reference to the way in which "life itself," in a sense quite different from its general positions 27:1