Digital Prenatal Education to Reduce Fear of Childbirth in Term Pregnancy

Many pregnant women feel afraid of giving birth. This fear is common and can affect how a woman experiences labour, the type of birth she has, and how she feels afterwards.

Antenatal education helps women prepare for birth, but not everyone can attend the classes offered at health centres. Work schedules, family duties or travel distance often get in the way.

This study looks at whether an online education programme can help. The programme is a website that women can use at home, at any time, from a phone, tablet or computer. It explains how labour works, what pain relief and other options are available, how to prepare a birth plan, and how to manage difficult feelings. It also includes videos filmed in the hospital where the women will give birth, so the place feels familiar before they arrive.

Women taking part will be pregnant with one baby, will have a pregnancy considered low risk, and will be at least 37 weeks pregnant when they start. Half of the women will be given access to the website, chosen at random, like tossing a coin. The other half will receive the usual antenatal care offered by their midwife and doctor. All women continue with their normal pregnancy care.

Women will answer a questionnaire about their feelings towards birth when they join the study, and a second questionnaire in the first two weeks after their baby is born. The researchers will compare the answers of the two groups to see whether the website made a difference. Information about the birth will also be collected from the medical records.

The study will take place in Gran Canaria, Spain, and will include 176 women. It is run by midwives as part of a specialist training programme and has no commercial funding.