Retrospective and anticipated childbirth-related fears: Findings from an Austrian postpartum survey
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Abstract Background Childbirth-related fears can be assessed in pregnancy using validated tools. However, little is known about mothers’ retrospective appraisal of such fears and their current concerns regarding future births. Capturing postpartum reflections can offer valuable information for improving birth preparation and communication. This study investigated childbirth-related fears retrospectively and assessed current fears regarding a potential future birth. Methods Data from an Austrian online survey of 544 mothers (mean age: 31.00 ± 4.32 years) up to two years postpartum, were analysed. Fears were assessed using two single-item rating scales (0-10, with 10 indicating very high concern), measuring emotional burden related to the last and a potential future birth. Mothers were asked: “To what extent did you experience fears and worries related to your last childbirth?” and “To what extent would you feel fears and worries if thinking about a future childbirth?”. Seventeen literature-based specific concerns (e.g. pain, loss of control) were assessed dichotomously, with an additional free-text item. Results Most mothers reported future concerns about not achieving their preferred mode of birth (41%), the baby's long-term health (37%) and labour pain (36%). Only 10% reported no fears. Qualitative responses included medical emergencies (13%), lack of compassionate care (13%) and birth injuries (11%). The mean concern levels decreased significantly from the last to a potential future birth (5.04 ± 3.16 vs. 4.41 ± 3.29, p < 0.001). The highest concern levels were observed in mothers aged ≥35 years and those with a prior caesarean birth, but both groups showed significant declines over time (p < 0.001). Conclusions The results show both retrospective and anticipatory childbirth-related worries and fears. Strengthening woman-centred care and maternal health literacy may reduce fears and promote sustainable well-being. Key messages • Childbirth-related fears can persist beyond birth and could be assessed retrospectively to better understand how they may affect future birth experiences. • Implications for interprofessional care models and communication strategies addressing fear of birth should be further explored in Austria to strengthen maternal health literacy at multiple levels.
Fetched live from OpenAlex and de-inverted. Abstracts are not stored in this database: the inverted indexes are 8.6 GB of the frame’s 9.3 GB of text, and the host has 13 GB free.
How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.003 | 0.008 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".