Prevalence of fear of childbirth, its risk factors and birth outcomes in Australian multiparous women

Table 1 Comparison of sociodemographic characteristics between women with low–moderate fear of childbirth and women with high–severe fear of childbirth (Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire cut-off = 66), n (%)/mean ± SD¹

Variable	Low-moderate FoC (n = 147)	High-severe FoC (n = 65)	P value
Age			0.542
< 25	6 (4)	2 (3)
25–35	102 (69)	41 (63)
> 35	39 (27)	22 (34)
Education			0.314
No formal education	4 (3)	5 (8)
High school certificate or lower	33 (22)	14 (22)
Diploma or undergraduate degree	82 (56)	31 (48)
Postgraduate degree	28 (19)	15 (23)
Country of origin			0.092
Australia	51 (35)	15 (23)
Other	96 (65)	50 (77)
Country of birth			0.069
Australia	55 (37)	16 (25)
Other	92 (63)	49 (75)
Employment status			0.704
No formal occupation	26 (18)	17 (26)
Stopped working due to pregnancy	41 (28)	16 (25)
Casual worker	6 (4)	3 (5)
Part-time	25 (17)	9 (14)
Full-time	49 (33)	20 (31)
Marital status			0.058
Married or de facto	138 (94)	57 (88)
Divorced/separated/widow	5 (3)	2 (3)
Single	4 (3)	6 (9)
Annual family income			0.018
< $50000	35 (24)	18 (28)
$50000–100000	49 (33)	32 (49)
> $100000	63 (43)	15 (23)
Living situation			0.262
With partner	109 (74)	41 (63)
With family/friends	32 (22)	20 (32)
Alone	6 (4)	4 (6)
Support person			0.4832
Herself only	13 (9)	5 (8)
Others	134 (91)	60 (92)
Major life stressor			0.148
No	101 (69)	38 (59)
Yes	46 (31)	27 (42)
Alcohol intake			0.0692
No	134 (91)	64 (99)
Yes	13 (9)	1 (2)
Cigarette smoking			0.1572
No	133 (91)	63 (97)
Yes	14 (10)	2 (3)
History of sexual assault during childhood			0.8112
No	131 (89)	59 (91)
Yes	16 (11)	6 (9)
History of sexual assault during adulthood			0.2352
No	135 (92)	63 (97)
Yes	12 (8)	2 (3)
Age (range 22–43 years)	32 ± 4.4	33 ± 4.3	0.155
Body mass index (range 14–52)	28 ± 5.9	28 ± 5.9	0.689
Years living in Australia (range 05–43)	18 ± 12.9	17 ± 11.6	0.311

¹Percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

²Fisher’s exact test.

FoC: Fear of childbirth.