Self-efficacy for labor and childbirth fears in nulliparous pregnant women

In this secondary analysis, the relationship between self-efficacy for labor and childbirth fears in healthy nulliparous women was investigated during the third trimester of pregnancy. The sample consisted of 280 predominantly white, well-educated, middle-class nulliparae enrolled in childbirth classes. Consistent with Bandura's self-efficacy theory, outcome expectancies for childbirth were unrelated to childbirth fears while self-efficacy expectancies were significantly correlated with childbirth fears. When the sample was divided into a low-fear and a high-fear group, significant differences were found between groups on a number of psychological variables. The women in the high-fear group were characterized by significantly higher learned helplessness, chance health locus of control and powerful others health locus of control, and significantly lower self-esteem and generalized self-efficacy. The most common fears of the high-fear women were of losing control during delivery, of the birth itself, of something being wrong with the baby and of painful contractions.