Abstract:
Background- Fear of childbirth (FOC) is a feeling of insecurity and anxiousness before, during,
and after childbirth. Almost all pregnant women encounter this problem regardless of their
country's development status and previous experience.This study was aimed to assess magnitude
of Fear of childbirth and its associated factors among pregnant women attending public health
facilities in Konso zone southern Ethiopia.
Methods -Facility based cross-sectional study design containing qualitative and quantitative data
collection method was used from March 6-April 20, 2022. Study subjects were, selected by
systematic sampling depending on the proportional allocation of the sample to each health
facilities, selected by lottery method. Data were, collected from 398 participants using face-to face interview for Quantitative and in-depth interview for qualitative data. Quantitative data was,
entered into Epi Data entry client (V4.4.3.1) and exported to SPSS version 25.0 for analysis.
Qualitative data collected by audio recording of in-depth interview of women waiting for labor
categorized in to themes after listening and reading the transcript of each participant.
Result- Out of the 407 total samples, 398 women were participated in the study, giving 97.78%
response rate. Among the study participants majority 215(54%) of them were ≥25 years old. The
mean for participants‘ age was 27 ± 6 SD and the Magnitude of FOC was 21.6% (95% CI: 18% -
26%). Mistreatment in health care system (AOR=2.274%, 95% CI :( 1.286-4.021) P=0.005),
prior labor complication (AOR=2.562%, 95% CI(1.382-4.749)(p=0.003), Age <25
(AOR=3.604%, 95% CI: (1.1170-11.1) (p=0.025), Gestational age >26 (AOR= 3.132 %, 95% CI
:( 1.498-6.545) (p=0.002), Episiotomy (AOR=2.682%, 95% CI: (1.474-4.88) (P=0.001), and
social-support(AOR=3.017%, 95% CI:(1.501- 6.065) (P=0.002) were factors significantly
associated with FOC. An in-depth interview supports the finding.
Conclusion and recommendation- Study found that magnitude of FOC is considerable among
pregnant women Konso zone. Care providers have to be sensitive to it, and pay attention to
pregnant women‘s age, Gestational age, and previous delivery complication. It needs to
empower, and involve all reproductive age women in health issues related to pregnancy, birth as
well as providing training for all health care providers on maternity care and rights of women to
alleviate and foster a smooth relationship between health care providers and maternity care users.
