Abstract
Aim
Having a known midwife at birth is valued by women across the world, however it is
unusual for women with fear of childbirth to have access to this model of care. The
aim of this study was to describe the prevalence and factors related to having access
to a known midwife for women referred to counseling due to childbirth fear. We also
wanted to explore if women’s levels of childbirth fear changed over time.
Methods
A pilot study of 70 women referred to counseling due to fear of birth in 3 Swedish
hospitals, and where the counseling midwife, when possible, also assisted during labour
and birth.
Results
34% of the women actually had a known midwife during labour and birth. Women who had
a known midwife had significantly more counseling visits, they viewed the continuity
of care as more important, were more satisfied with the counseling and 29% reported
that their fear disappeared. Fear of birth decreased significantly over time for all
women irrespective of whether they were cared for in labour by a known midwife or
not.
Conclusions
Although the women in the present study had limited access to a known midwife, the
results indicate that having a known midwife whom the women met on several occasions
made them more satisfied with the counseling and had a positive effect on their fear.
Building a trustful midwife–woman relationship rather than counseling per se could
be the key issue when it comes to fear of birth.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 14, 2018
Accepted:
April 17,
2018
Received in revised form:
March 28,
2018
Received:
December 28,
2017
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
