Interventions for reducing fear of childbirth: A systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials
Abstract
Introduction Fear of childbirth is a problematic mental health issue during pregnancy. But, effective interventions to reduce this problem are not well understood.Objectives To examine effective interventions for reducing fear of childbirth.Material and methods The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, Embase and PsycINFO were searched since inception till September 2017 without any restriction. Randomised controlled trials and quasi-randomised controlled trials comparing interventions for treatment of fear of childbirth were included. The standardized mean differences were pooled using random and fixed effect models. The heterogeneity was determined using the Cochran's test and I 2 index and was further explored in meta-regression model and subgroup analyses.Results Ten studies inclusive of 3984 participants were included in the meta-analysis (2 quasi-randomized and 8 randomized clinical trials). Eight studies investigated education and two studies investigated hypnosis-based intervention. The pooled standardized mean differences of fear for the education intervention and hypnosis group in comparison with control group were -0.46 (95% CI -0.73 to -0.19) and -0.22 (95% CI -0.34 to -0.10), respectively.Conclusions Both types of interventions were effective in reducing fear of childbirth; however our pooled results revealed that educational interventions may reduce fear with double the effect of hypnosis. Further large scale randomized clinical trials and individual patient data meta-analysis are warranted for assessing the association.
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MBCP effects seem to be comparable to the effects of educational interventions reducing high FOC (W-DEQ-A ≥ 66; respectively, MD −0.41 and SMD −0.46).
“Furthermore, MBCP effects seem to be comparable to the effects of educational interventions reducing high FOC (W‐DEQ‐A ≥ 66; respectively, MD −0.41 and SMD −0.46). 47”
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- Authors
- Moghaddam Hosseini, V., Nazarzadeh, M., & Jahanfar, S.
- Affiliations
- Torbat Heydarieh University of Medical Sciences (IR)
- Central Michigan University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Nazarzadeh, Milad
- Venue
- Women and Birth
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-08
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 254-262
- ISSN
- 1871-5192 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2767503996
- Cited by
- 124
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 5
- FWCI
- 1.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Women and Birth (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › Maternal and Perinatal Health Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Pregnancy-related medical research
- Keywords
- fear of childbirth, pregnancy, educational intervention, hypnosis, hypnotherapy, anxiety reduction, perinatal mental health
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Clinical Trials as Topic, Fear, Female, Humans, Pregnancy, Parturition, Delivery, Obstetric
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