Self-Confidence Key to Easier Childbirth.

• Position: Brief Article

Pregnant women's fears of childbirth may play a role in how they will handle labor and delivery. A study by Nancy Lowe, associate professor of nursing, Ohio State University, Columbus, found that, among first-time mothers, less-confident women had a greater fear of labor and birth than did those who scored high on confidence and self-esteem tests. Women who reported low confidence were so anxious about the event that they often felt incapable of using relaxation and breathing techniques that would make labor more bearable.

"Most women fear childbirth to some extent," Lowe says. "Fear of the unknown is normal, and a little anxiety may help women mentally prepare for the event. But when a woman has high fear and low self-confidence, she starts to doubt her ability to give birth."

Lowe evaluated 280 women during the third trimester of their first pregnancy who were enrolled in childbirth education classes in central Ohio. Each woman answered a series of questionnaires measuring overall self-confidence and self-esteem, as well as a questionnaire that measured her beliefs and attitudes toward labor and delivery.

Lowe found that a woman's beliefs about the value of certain behaviors to help cope with labor and birth had no relationship to...