Identifying women with fear of childbirth with the Dutch Fear of Birth Scale and its added value for consultations

Figures & data

Table 1. participant characteristics.

	N = 364
	N (%)
Age, mean (SD)	30.7 (4.3)
Country of birth
The Netherlands	343 (94.2%)
Other country	21 (5.8%)
Relationship status
Living together with partner	343 (94.2%)
Living separate from partner	11 (3.0%)
No partner	10 (2.8%)
Educational level^a
Low	10 (2.7%)
Middle	93 (25.5%)
High	261 (71.7%)
Weeks pregnant, mean (SD)	25.6 (9.9)
Planned pregnancy
Planned	315 (86.5%)
Not planned	49 (13.5%)
Caregiver
Midwife.	264 (72.5%)
Gynecologist (medical indication)	84 (23.1 %)
Gynecologist (own choice)	16 (4.4 %)
History of psychological treatment (lifetime)
No	190 (52.2%)
Yes	174 (47.8%)

^aEducational levels: low = primary school and preparatory secondary education; middle = senior general secondary education, secondary vocational education and pre-university education; high = higher professional education and university education.

Figure 1. ROC curve: FOBS as predictor for W-DEQ A ≥ 85.

Table 2. Detecting FoC with the FOBS at a cutoff score ≥49.

Outcomes	N
True positives	55 (49.5%)
True negatives	241 (95.3%)
False positives	56 (50.5 %)
False negatives	12 (4.7%)
Psychometric values
Accuracy	0.885
Sensitivity	0.821
Specificity	0.811
Positive predictive value	0.495
Negative predictive value	0.953

Table 3. Incidence and satisfaction of discussing FoC.

	FOBS (+)	FOBS (−)
	n = 111 n (%)	n = 253 n (%)	OR (95% CI)	p*
I have the feeling I can discuss my feelings about the delivery with my midwife or gynecologist
Agree–totally agree	77/111 (69.4)	230/253 (90.9)	–	–
Neutral	21/111 (18.9)	15/253 (5.9)	4.1 (2.2–8.5)	<0.001
Disagree–totally disagree	13/111 (11.7)	8/253 (3.2)	4.9 (1.9–12.2)	<0.001
Did you ever discuss FoC with your midwife or gynecologist?
Yes	43/111 (38.7)	47/253 (18.6)	2.8 (1.7–4.6)	<0.001
No	68/111 (61.3)	206/253 (81.4)	–
How satisfied are you with the conversations about FoC?
Satisfied–very satisfied	22/43 (51.2)	39/47 (83.0)	–	–
Neutral	14/43 (32.6)	6/47 (12.8)	4.1 (1.4–12.3)	0.011
Dissatisfied–very dissatisfied	7/43 (16.3)	2/47 (4.3)	6.2 (1.2–32.5)	0.031

^aLogistic regression. *p <0.05 was considered statitically signficant.