Abstract:
Fear of childbirth negatively affects women during pregnancy and after birth. The research was conducted to evaluate the effect of the training program provided to primiparous pregnant women through motivational interview method on fear of childbirth, childbirth self-efficacy, and delivery mode. This is a parallel-randomized controlled experimental study. "Training Program through Motivational Interview Method for Fear of Childbirth" was applied individually to 37 pregnant women in the intervention group, once a week, for four sessions in total while 36 in the control group did not receive any intervention other than routine hospital practices. In the collection of the research data, Introductory Information Form, the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (W-DEQ) Versions A and B, the Childbirth Self-Efficacy Inventory-Short Form (CBSEI-SF), and the Delivery Evaluation Form were used. It was determined that the mean W-DEQ scores of those in the intervention group obtained during the 37th to 40th weeks of gestation and postpartum were lower than those in the control group. It was found that, during the 37th to 40th weeks of gestation, the intervention group’s median scores for the CBSEI-SF total score, Sub-dimension of Expectation of Outcome, and Sub-dimension of Expectation of Self-Efficacy were higher than those of in the control group. There was no significant difference between the groups regarding their delivery mode. While the training program given to primiparous pregnant women through the motivational interview method was found to have reduced the fear of childbirth and increased their childbirth self-efficacy, it had no effect on the delivery mode.