The Effect of Telehealth Counseling for Pregnant Women on Fear of Birth During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction: This study, it was aimed to investigate the effect of prenatal education given to pregnant women by telehealth method on fear of childbirth during the pandemic process.Methods: It was conducted as a semi-experimental study. This research was conducted with randomly selected 50 pregnant women registered to health institutions affiliated to the health directorate of Kadıköy district of Istanbul/Turkey. Pregnant women who agreed to participate in the study were given birth preparation training over the phone once a week for six weeks.Results: It was discerned that 90% of the pregnant women had a healthy pregnancy whereas 10% of them had a risky pregnancy. Besides, it was identified that the mean of scores obtained by pregnant women from the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire was 90.50±24.98 points before the training offered via the telehealth method while it was 70.72±24.08 points after the training. Thus, it was found that the mean of scores obtained by pregnant women from the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire was lower after the training offered via the telehealth method and the difference in mean scores obtained before and after the training was statistically significant (t=3.704, p=0.001).Discussion: It was concluded that the antenatal training offered via the telehealth method significantly reduced the delivery fear in healthy pregnant women, however, it had no effect on women with risky pregnancies. It is a good alternative for pregnant women who cannot reach prenatal education in pandemic conditions.