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

Table 2 Comparison of medical and obstetric history between women with low–moderate fear of childbirth and women with high–severe fear of childbirth, n (%)/mean ± SD¹

Variable	Low–moderate FoC (n = 147)	High–severe FoC (n = 65)	P value
Pre-pregnancy anxiety/depression			0.089
No	107 (73)	43 (66)
Anxiety only	15 (10)	8 (12)
Depression only	4 (3)	7 (11)
Both	21 (14)	7 (11)
Pre-existing health problem			0.003
No	108 (74)	34 (52)
Yes	39 (27)	31 (48)
Previous mode of birth			0.015
Normal vaginal delivery	82 (56)	32 (49)
Instrumental	30 (20)	5 (8)
Emergency caesarean section	25 (17)	19 (29)
Planned caesarean section	10 (7)	9 (14)
Previous childbirth experience			< 0.001
Neutral	46 (31)	28 (43)
Empowering	73 (50)	14 (22)
Traumatic	28 (19)	23 (35)
Previous 3rd or 4th degree tear			0.541
No	112 (76)	52 (80)
Yes	35 (24)	13 (20)
Attended antenatal educational classes			0.659
No	127 (86)	58 (89)
Yes	20 (14)	7 (11)
Type of conception			0.178
Planned	100 (68)	38 (59)
Unplanned	47 (32)	27 (42)
Gestational age at baseline (range 14–41 weeks)	30+5 ± 7+1	29 ± 7+1	0.521
Expected length of hospital stay after vaginal birth (range 0–7 days)	2 ± 1.1	2 ± 1.2	0.206
Expected length of hospital stay after caesarean section (range 0–10 days)	3 ± 1.9	3 ± 2.0	0.927

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

FoC: Fear of childbirth.