Abstract:
Fear of childbirth (FOC) is an important psychological problem that is studied worldwide
because it affects the well-being of pregnant women. However, in Russia, this problem
does not receive adequate attention among researchers. The purpose of the present
study was to investigate the conditionality of fear of childbirth (FOC) in pregnant women
by external and internal factors, which we assumed were the reasons for this fear. As
external factors, we considered socio-demographic indicators (e.g., age, marital status,
level of education, housing, and the attitude of relatives towards pregnancy) as well as
indicators of gynecological history (e.g., the term of pregnancy, the outcome of previous
pregnancies, and pregnancy complications). As internal (psychological) factors of the
fear of childbirth, we considered personal anxiety as well as general inclination towards
and negative consequences of different fears (20 types of fears and phobias were examined).
