The Effect of Prenatal Education on the Process of Childbirth

Childbirth mandates support for women due to its painful nature and its maternal and neonatal complications. Increased knowledge and skills during pregnancy prepares pregnant mothers for labor and promotes their health. This study was designed to evaluate the education process of childbirth. This semiclinical trial was conducted on 195 pregnant women (132 cases in control group and 63 in the case group) attending at health centers in Amol, Iran from 20 weeks of gestational age without any complication during pregnancy. Case group members attended in prenatal classes and the control group only received routine care. Data were collected by means of demographic checklist, standard hospital anxiety questionnaire, and a checklist, related to childbirth information, and intensity of pain based on Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and McGill scale. The data were analyzed by SPSS using T-test and chi-square test. The results of this study showed that parents with high level of education were more interested in prenatal classes (P = 0.007, P = 0.003). The mean score of anxiety among case group was 14.47 ± 4.69 and in control group was 16 ± 4.86 (P = 0.002). Pain intensity in case group was 85.68 ± 1.85 and in control group was 90.99 ± 14.72 (P = 0.030), intervention on labor such as episiotomy was 66.1% in case group and 72.8% in control group (P > 0.001) and C/S was 17.1% in case group and 32.2% in control group (P = 0.01). Prenatal education and psychological support of mothers during pregnancy and labor is recommended for all pregnant women.