Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Department of Midwifery, Evidence‑Based Care Research Center, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
2 Assistant Professor of Family Counseling, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
3 Professor, Department of Biostatistics, Research Center for Health Sciences, Faculty of Public Health, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The most important reasons for choosing cesarean include negative attitude of
pregnant women toward natural childbirth, and it is not easy for many women to make a decision
about the choice of delivery, Midwives as responsible individuals, play an important role in providing
maternal counseling and care during pregnancy and childbirth and the postpartum period. This study
was carried out to determine the effect of individual counseling on attitudes and decisional conflict
in the choice of delivery among nulliparous women.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This clinical trial was performed on 90 nulliparous women with
28–30 weeks of gestational age, who were referred to health‑care centers in Mashhad. They were
divided randomly into intervention and control groups. The intervention group received the counseling
program individually during three sessions, while the control group received routine care, childbirth
attitudes, and decisional conflict on choice of delivery were compared on women of 34–36 weeks
of pregnancy. Data collection tools included demographic details form, Childbirth Attitudes Scale
and Decisional Conflict Scale; data were analyzed using Chi‑square tests, Fisher’s exact test,
Mann–Whitney test, t‑test, parried t‑test, and ANCOVA in SPSS v. 16, and P < 0.05 was considered
statistically significant.
RESULTS: After consultation, there was a significant difference in attitude score between the
intervention group (86.577 ± 13.531) and the control group (69.955 ± 19.858) (P < 0.001), And there
was a significant difference in decisional conflict score between the intervention group (0.614 ± 0.626)
and the control group (1.216 ± 0.949) (P < 0.001), and there were significant differences between
the two groups in terms of preferred delivery (P < 0.001).
CONCLUSION: According to the results of this randomized control trial, individual counseling in
nulliparous women during pregnancy leads to a positive attitude toward natural childbirth, informed
decision‑making, and increase in the selection of natural childbirth.
Keywords
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