Postnatal Outcomes of the Traumatic Childbirth Perception: An Analysis of the Traumatic Childbirth Perception with Pregnancy Avoidance and Mental Health Outcomes

Abstract

Aim: Several postpartum outcomes of traumatic birth perception have been identified. However, the postpartum results could not be clarified. The study aims were to describe and compare the pregnancy avoidance and mental health outcomes in the women with and without traumatic childbirth perception and to infer which factors may influence the traumatic childbirth perception. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional and comparative study was conducted with 1109 women who were in the 6-12 months of the postnatal period. The Scale of Traumatic Childbirth Perception (STCP), the Desire to Avoid Pregnancy (DAP) Scale, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 were used in the collection of research data. In the study, the women with a moderate or higher level of traumatic childbirth perception (53 points or above) were categorized as ‘childbirth perception traumatic’. Results: In the study, 74.8% of the women obtained 53 points or above from the STCP. It was found that, of the women with traumatic childbirth perception, 46.4% exhibited depressive symptoms, 54.5% experienced anxiety, 41.1% had stress, and the mean of their DAP scores was 2.13±0.96. Women with traumatic birth perception were higher in avoiding depression, anxiety, stress and pregnancy (p<0.05). The logistic regression analysis showed that that the variables of being below the age of 30 years (OR=0.543), primiparity (OR=0.459), having depressive symptoms (OR=2.627), having anxiety (OR=1.752), and pregnancy avoidance (OR=1.701) were significant risk factors for traumatic childbirth perception. Conclusion: It has been found that the perception of traumatic birth can lead to psychological problems and pregnancy avoidance in women.

Keywords

• Anxiety
• childbirth perception
• depression
• pregnancy avoidance
• stress
• trauma