Giving birth with rape in one's past: a qualitative study.

Background: Rape is one of the most traumatizing violations a woman can be subjected to, and leads to extensive health problems, predominantly psychological ones. A large proportion of women develop a form of posttraumatic stress termed Rape Trauma Syndrome. A previous study by our research group has shown that women with a history of rape far more often had an operative delivery in their first birth and those who gave birth vaginally had second stages twice as long as women with no history of sexual assault.

Different labour outcomes in primiparous women that have been subjected to childhood sexual abuse or rape in adulthood: a case-control study in a clinical cohort.

Objective: To compare the duration and outcome of the first labour in women who have been subjected to childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and women who have been raped in adulthood (RA).

Design: Case-control study in a clinical cohort.

Setting: University Hospital of North Norway.

Birth outcomes in primiparous women who were raped as adults: a matched controlled study.

Objective: To compare the duration of labour and the birth outcome in a group of primiparous women who had been raped after the age of 16, with a control group from the same birth cohort.

Design: Cohort study.

Setting: University Hospital of North Norway.

Does counsellor's attitude influence change in a request for a caesarean in women with fear of birth?

Background: the attitudes of two counsellors towards women requesting a caesarean section due to fear of birth were identified. One emphasised the ability to overcome any emotional obstacle to vaginal birth ('coping attitude'), and the other emphasised that the ultimate choice of mode of birth was the womans' ('autonomy attitude'). Two research questions were asked: (1) What are the predictors of change in a wish for a caesarean and of vaginal birth in women with fear of birth? (2) Does a change from an 'autonomy attitude' to a 'coping attitude' increase the number of women who change their request for a caesarean and who give birth vaginally?

Methods: the study population consisted of two samples of pregnant women with fear of birth and concurrent request for a caesarean, referred for crisis-oriented counselling at the antenatal clinic, University Hospital of North Norway between 2000-2002 (n=86) and 2004-2006 (n=107).

[Is there an association between psychological stress and request for caesarian section?].

Background: Caesarean section rates have increased in Norway, as in the rest of the western world since the beginning of the 1970s, and further explanations are needed to understand this development. The study aimed to examine whether demographic or psychological burdens differed among women who feared childbirth, according to whether or not they requested caesarean section.

Material And Methods: In the period 2000-02, 164 pregnant women who feared childbirth were referred for counselling with two midwives (specialized in mental health) at the antenatal clinic at the University Hospital of North Norway.