Table I.
Characteristics of included studies and quality assessment
| Reference, Author, year, country | Study aims | Methodology and theoretical perspective | Sample | Quality assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fenwick, Staff, Gamble, Creedy, & Bayes, (2010) Australia |
To describe Australian women’s request for CS in the absence of medical indicators in their first pregnancy | Interviews Thematic analysis |
8 primiparous and 6 multiparous women who requested CS without any known medical indication, all had experienced CS within the past 5 years | M:35 |
| Fisher, Hauck, & Fenwick, (2006) Australia |
To explore in detail the childbirth experiences of women identified as fearful of birth | Interviews Constant comparison |
8 primiparous and 14 multiparous women who expressed fear, 19 woman were interviewed after childbirth and 3 women before | M:32 |
| Melender, (2002) Finland |
To describe the causes of fear associated with preg-nancy and childbirth and to describe coping stra-tegies of preg-nant woman who have fears | Interviews Content analysis |
10 primiparous and 10 multiparous women interviewed 2–3 days after childbirth | M:31 |
| Faisal, Matinnia, Hejar, & Khodakarami, (2014) Iran |
To gain a deeper understanding of why Iranian primigravidae request CS without any medical indication | Interviews Thematic analysis |
14 nulliparous women who requested CS without any medical indication, interviewed in the third trimester | M:38 |
| Lyberg & Severinsson, (2010) Norway |
To illuminate mothers’ fear of childbirth and their experiences of the team-midwifery care model during pregnancy, child-birth and the postnatal period | Interviews Hermeneutical analysis |
4 primiparous and 9 multiparous women interviewed 1–1,5 year after childbirth | M:33 |
| Ramvi & Tangerud, (2011) Norway |
To investigate women requesting CS, but gave vaginal birth in spite of fear of childbirth | Interview Narrative approach | 2 primiparous and 3 multiparous women interviewed 1 year after the childbirth | M:35 |
| Eriksson, Jansson, & Hamberg, (2006) Sweden |
To investigate and describe how intense fear related to childbirth is experienced, dealt with and communicated from the perspective of the women themselves | Interviews Grounded theory | 6 primiparous and 14 multiparous women with experiences of intense fear, interviewed after childbirth | M:36 |
| Nilsson, Bondas, & Lundgren, (2010) Sweden |
To describe the meaning of previous experiences of childbirth in pregnant woman who have exhibited intense fear of childbirth such that it has an impact on their daily lives | Interviews Phenomeno-logical analysis |
9 pregnant multiparous women who sought help for fear of childbirth | M:32 |
| Nilsson & Lundgren, (2009) Sweden |
To describe woman’s lived experience of fear of childbirth. | Interviews Phenomeno-logical analysis |
2 pregnant primiparous and 6 pregnant multiparous women who sought help for fear | M:33 |
| Nilsson, Robertson, & Lundgren, (2012) Sweden |
To describe the meaning of fear of childbirth and of birth in women who earlier had experienced intense fear of childbirth after a previous negative childbirth experience | Interviews Phenomeno-logical analysis |
6 multiparous women who sought help for fear of childbirth about 10 years earlier | M:34 |
| Ryding, Wijma, & Wijma, (1998) Sweden |
To describe women’s thoughts and feelings during the delivery process ending in ECS. | Interviews Phenomeno-logical analysis |
29 primiparous and 24 multiparous women interviewed 1–5 days after elective CS | M:37 |
| Salomonsson, Bertero, & Alehagen, (2013) Sweden |
To apply and test the concept of self-efficacy to expectations of the up-coming birth in the context of severe fear of childbirth | Interviews Content analysis |
17 pregnant primiparous women with fear at 25–26 gestational week, interviews between 32–38 gestation week | M:31 |
| Wahlbeck, Kvist, & Landgren, (2018) Sweden |
To describe women’s experience of undergoing art therapy with severe fear of childbirth. | Interviews Phenomeno-logical hermeneutical analysis |
19 women who had undergone art therapy for severe fear of childbirth 10 multiparous and 10 primiparous, interviews 3 months after childbirth |
M:36 |
| Roosevelt & Kane Low, (2016) USA |
To explore woman’s experiences while completing the W-DEQ, an instrument used to measure fear of childbirth. | Focus groups Interviews Content analysis |
22 women who were pregnant or had given birth in the last 5 years, have self-identified fear of childbirth | M:31 |
Assessment for quality using the COREQ 32-items checklist, M = Moderate quality, 31–38 scores.