Abstract Background Primiparous women commonly experience heightened anxiety and low childbirth self-efficacy, which may intensify pain, prolong labor, and increase obstetric interventions. Nurse-led childbirth preparedness may strengthen coping confidence and improve intrapartum outcomes. Aim To examine the effect of nursing-led childbirth preparedness sessions on childbirth self-efficacy, anxiety, pain intensity, labor duration, and mode of delivery among primiparous women. Methods A quasi-experimental post-test-only non-equivalent control group study was conducted at Kasr Al-Ainy University Hospital, Cairo, Egypt. A purposive sample of 140 low-risk primiparous women was allocated to an intervention group ( n = 70) and a control group ( n = 70). The intervention comprised two structured nurse-led group sessions (≈45 minutes each) delivered at 32–34 weeks’ gestation, a supportive Arabic booklet, and weekly follow-up phone calls. Outcomes were measured during labor using the Arabic Childbirth Self-Efficacy Inventory (ACSEI), the Anxiety Assessment Scale for Pregnant Women in Labor (AASPWL), and the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) for pain, with labor duration and mode of delivery extracted from clinical records. Group comparisons were performed using independent t -tests and chi-square tests. Results Women who received the preparedness sessions demonstrated significantly higher total childbirth self-efficacy than controls (ACSEI: 226.07 ± 7.12 vs 200.25 ± 5.96; t = 23.27, p < 0.001). Anxiety levels differed significantly, with a higher proportion of low anxiety in the intervention group (51.4% vs 22.9%; χ 2 = 14.53, p = 0.002). Mean pain scores were lower in the intervention group during latent (4.66 ± 0.68 vs 4.96 ± 0.82; p = 0.020) and active acceleration phases (6.07 ± 0.80 vs 7.14 ± 0.98; p < 0.001). First-stage labor duration was shorter in the intervention group (8.85 ± 1.89 vs 10.17 ± 1.94 hours; p < 0.001), as was second-stage duration (63.9 ± 22.6 vs 89.6 ± 26.3 minutes; p < 0.001). Mode of delivery also differed significantly (χ 2 = 7.24, p = 0.027), with lower cesarean section rates in the intervention group (17.1% vs 34.3%). Conclusion Nursing-led childbirth preparedness sessions were associated with higher childbirth self-efficacy and lower anxiety and pain, as well as shorter labor duration and fewer cesarean births among primiparous women. Given the quasi-experimental design, results should be interpreted as associations and warrant confirmation in randomized multi-center studies. Trial registration Not applicable (quasi-experimental, non-randomized study).
MOHAMMED et al. (Mon,) studied this question.