Group art therapy for the management of fear of giving birth

Abstract

Introduction

Fear of giving birth may affect many pregnant women. Fear of childbirth leads to an increase in C-section demands and the ratio of C-section births. Group therapy addresses at least 8 people at the same time, which both saves time and treatment expenses.

Objectives

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of group art therapy for the management of fear of giving birth.

Methods

Thirty women volunteers in the third trimester of pregnancy who were attending a public women's hospital and who had fear of giving birth were included in the study. They were randomly distributed to 2 groups. First group (n = 15) received 6 sessions of group art therapy. Second group (n = 15) received 6 sessions of psychoeducation regarding fear of giving birth. Each weekly psychotherapy session lasted 130 minutes.

Results

By the end of the six weeks Beck depression scale (BDS) scores, Beck Anxiety Scale (BAS) scores and Wijma delivery expectancy/experience questionnaire version A (W-DEQ) scores decreased significantly in the group art therapy group (P < 0.001). In contrast, the psychoeducation group showed no significant changes in terms of BDS, BAS, W-DEQ scores.

Conclusions

Our study shows that group art therapy may be a promising cost-effective treatment method to manage fear of giving birth in pregnant women. The study needs to be replicated in women coming from different cultures and socioeconomic statuses to establish group art therapy for the treatment of fear of giving birth.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.