Table 2.

Comparison of item content within each scale with the 10 key elements of FOC as identified by Slade et al. [13]

FOC Element	WDEQ-A	OWLS	SPECS	FOBS
1. Fear of not knowing and not being able to plan for the unpredictable	Totally as it should be	Getting to the hospital in time Having a long labour Not knowing how long labour will take Not knowing when I would go into labour	Labour will be complicated
2. Fear of harm or stress to the baby	Fantasies child will die Fantasies child will be injured		I am worried about the health of my baby
3. Fear of inability to cope with pain	Pain	Getting effective pain relief Pain and discomfort of labour
4. Fear of harm to self in labour and post-natally	Safe Dangerous
5. Fear of being ‘done to’		Needing a caesarean Having ventouse or forceps delivery Having to be induced	Labour will be complicated I worry I will need emergency surgery
6. Fear of not having a voice in decision making
7. Fear of being abandoned/alone	Lonely Deserted Abandoned Trust
8. Body’s ability to give birth	I will allow my body to take control Natural		My body will fail me during labour I will not be able to birth naturally
9. Losing control	Composed Panic I will behave badly I will totally lose control of myself	Embarrassment
10. Generic fear of unknown			Labour is unknown	Fear-no fear