Women giving birth are not just afraid of labor pains, complications or the baby's health. In fact, a small study from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor indicates women are just as fearful of being abandoned by a clinician or of how the structure of the healthcare system may affect their childbirth care.
The researchers collected data from 22 women in focus groups at an urban health center in the Detroit metropolitan area. Many of the women expressed fears consistent with previous research, but the study authors noted the women's fears of clinician abandonment and of the healthcare system were previously unidentified in other research.
Other findings from the study, which were reported by Science Daily, include that women are concerned their decisions will not be respected and about how they would be treated if they don't have good insurance. The study authors told Science Daily their findings indicate clinicians need to ask pregnant women more open-ended questions about their childbirth fears, rather than asking specific questions about common fears, to make sure they are properly addressed.
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