Relationship between fear of childbirth and personality type in pregnant women

Abstract

Introduction: Many reasons have been mentioned for fear of childbirth that one of the most important of them is personality characteristics of mother. According to classification of Friedman and Rosenman, people set in two personality types of A and B. Each of these two types has properties that make people vulnerable or resistance against different situations. So this study was done to recognize which personality type is related to fear of childbirth in pregnant women. Methods: This study was conducted on 159 pregnant women who referred to Fatemieh hospitale of Hamedan, Iran in 2012. Cases were selected by available sampling method. Data gathering tools were Childbirth Attitudes Questionnaire (CAQ) and Friedman and Rosenman personality type questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 19, descriptive statistics and linear regression tests. P value less than 0.01 was considered significant. Results: Result of linear regression represented that personality type with R 2 = 0.51 and significant level of p value less than 0.01 has significant relationship with fear of childbirth (p=0.01) and with increasing point of personality type (tendency to type A personality), point of fear of childbirth increased too. Conclusion: Results of this study show the predictor role of personality type in fear of childbirth and there is significant positive relationship between type A personality and fear of childbirth. © 2013 All Rights Reserved.