title: Fear during labor: the impact of sexual abuse in adult life.
abstract: Our aim was to study the occurrence of extreme fear during labor and its association with previous sexual abuse in adult life. All postpartum women (n = 414) in two municipalities in Norway participated in a questionnaire study. Self-reported fear during labor was categorized as "no fear/some fear/extreme fear". Sexual abuse was measured by the Abuse Assessment Screen (AAS). Three percent of the women reported extreme fear during labor, 13% some fear and 84% no fear. In total, 12% had been sexually abused as an adult. Among the women with extreme fear during labor, however, one third had a history of sexual abuse in adult life (crude odds ratio 3.7; 95% CI: 1.0-3.7). When controlling for depression in pregnancy, duration of labor and mode of delivery, the adjusted odds ratio for extreme fear during labor was 4.9 (95% CI: 1.2-19.1). The results suggest that women with a history of sexual abuse in adult life have an increased risk of extreme fear during labor.
authors.affiliation: Division of Mental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, and Health Services Research Centre, Akershus University Hospital, Norway. megr@fhi.no
authors.forename: Malin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eberhard-Gran
authors.forename: Kari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Slinning
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eskild
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007743:Labor, Obstetric / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009664:Norway; D011247:Pregnancy; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000523:psychology*; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000523:psychology*