The Effect of Childbirth Preparation Education on Perceived Stress and Traumatic Birth Perception in Pregnant Women

The act of birth, which is considered a natural event, is an act that the mother will remember with positive experiences in her life if it progresses normally. However, sometimes birth can be perceived as stressful and traumatic for women. Stress during pregnancy is a problem that should be emphasized and managed due to its negative effects on the health of the mother and the baby. As the pregnancy progresses, the levels of stress hormones may increase. In addition, the thought of spontaneous birth exposes women to physical discomfort, stress and uncertainty during pregnancy. The perception of traumatic birth is an important concept that emerges as a result of the woman's mental birth scenario, the information she has acquired about birth, and every situation she experiences during the birth, and also affects the postpartum period. In studies conducted in Turkey using the Traumatic Birth Perception Scale, it was determined that 23.6% and 26.9% of women experienced a high level of traumatic birth perception. Nulliparity, negative feelings about birth, inadequate antenatal care, inadequate psychosocial support, risky pregnancies, and lack of information about birth are among the factors that may cause traumatic birth perception. Physical and mental preparation for birth and information about pain management are considered to be the basic elements of prenatal education classes. There are study results indicating that birth preparation classes benefit women in many aspects such as self-sufficiency, reduced fear of birth, and positive pregnancy experience. No study results have been found in the literature examining the effect of birth preparation education on the perception of traumatic birth during pregnancy. Based on this, this study was needed to examine the effect of pregnant women's participation in childbirth preparation training on their perceived stress level and perception of traumatic birth.