Effect of supportive educational intervention on childbirth self-efficacy amongst primipara mothers: A randomized controlled trial

Background Antenatal education helps in enhancing a woman's belief in herself, her ability to cope with birth, and achieving the desired outcome from coping behaviour, which will lead to a positive birth experience. Health professionals should impart antenatal education to enhance a mother's belief about her behaviour during childbirth. We aimed to develop and assess the effect of a supportive educational intervention on child birth self-efficacy amongst primipara mothers with a fear of childbirth. Methods We included in our study, 200 primipara mothers at 24-28 weeks of pregnancy with a fear of childbirth. They were screened for fear of childbirth using the Wijma Delivery Expectany Questionnaire-A (WDEQ-A) scale and then randomly allocated to the experimental and control groups. After the childbirth allocation assessment, self-efficacy was assessed using the childbirth self-efficacy inventory. The control group received routine care, and the experimental group received two sessions of intervention, one between 24 and 28 weeks and the second between 32 and 36 weeks of pregnancy. At 37 and 38 weeks of pregnancy, selected mothers in both groups were again assessed for childbirth self-efficacy. Results Following the interventions, there was a significant difference between the groups on post-intervention scores for childbirth self-efficacy (p<0.001). Conclusions Educational interventions can improve self-efficacy of expectant primipara mothers.