Traumatic childbirth perception during pregnancy and the postpartum period and its postnatal mental health outcomes: a prospective longitudinal study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the perception of traumatic childbirth during pregnancy and the postpartum period and the postnatal mental health outcomes of traumatic childbirth perception.

Methods: This descriptive-longitudinal study was conducted from December 2017 to June 2018 in Turkey. The study included 248 pregnant women who were in weeks 36-40 of their pregnancies. The pregnant women were administered the Scale of Traumatic Childbirth Perception(STCP) and the Health Anxiety Inventory. The women were administered the STCP and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale three to six weeks after childbirth.

Results: Mean traumatic childbirth perception scores of pregnant women with high health anxiety were significantly higher (=0.01).Traumatic childbirth perceptions of pregnant women who do not trust their ability and power and think that they cannot cope with labor pain were high (=0.000). 21% of women had high perception of postpartum traumatic childbirth. The postpartum women with high levels of traumatic childbirth perception had significantly high levels of depression, anxiety and stress (<0.001).

Conclusions: The results show that the health anxiety experienced by women during pregnancy is related to their perception of traumatic childbirth.A traumatic childbirth experience affects the level of postpartum depression, anxiety, and stress.