Are smartphones a tool to cope with the fear of childbirth? The correlation between the fear of loss of connection and the fear of childbirth

Bingol, Fadime Bayri; Aydoğan, Arzu; Karaçam, Zeynep Dilşah; Çayiroğlu, Derya; Karanfil, Büşra; Kaya, Hatice Nur

doi:10.1590/1806-9282.20240550

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Revista da Associação Médica Brasileira

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE • Rev. Assoc. Med. Bras. 70 (9) • 2024 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1806-9282.20240550 copy

Are smartphones a tool to cope with the fear of childbirth? The correlation between the fear of loss of connection and the fear of childbirth

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

SUMMARY

OBJECTIVE:

With the spread of smartphones, they have become an indispensable part of life, and nomophobia (No-Mobile-Phone Phobia) has emerged.

METHODS:

The present research is a cross-sectional study and was conducted with 3,870 primiparous pregnant women between April and May 2022. The research data were collected using the Personal Information Form, Nomophobia Questionnaire, and Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire.

RESULTS:

The Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire score of the pregnant women who participated in the study was 22.3% (n=863) had a clinical fear of childbirth and 19.5% (n=753) had extreme nomophobia. Considering the correlation of the Nomophobia Questionnaire and Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire scores with other variables, it was found that the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire scores increased with the increasing Nomophobia Questionnaire total score (p=0.000, r=236) and the Nomophobia Questionnaire total score and fear of childbirth increased with an increase in the daily phone usage time. It was also revealed that women who had smartphone applications related to fetal development had higher nomophobia levels (p=0.0001), while they had a lower fear of childbirth.

CONCLUSION:

This study found that one in every five pregnant women was extremely nomophobic and had a clinical fear of childbirth and that nomophobia and the fear of childbirth were correlated at the clinical level. In this regard, women should prefer face-to-face communication rather than smartphones throughout the pregnancy period.

KEYWORDS
Phobic disorders; Smartphone; Fear; Childbirth; Women

		% (n)	NMP-Q			W-DEQ-A
		% (n)	Mean ± SD	Med (IQR)	p	Mean ± SD	Med (IQR)	p
Employment status	Employed	50.3 (n=1947)	75.4 ± 28.33	74 (53–95)	0.001 (z=-3.278)	66.83 ± 23.27	67 (50–83)	0.985 (z=-0.019)
Employment status	Unemployed	49.7 (n=1923)	72.38 ± 27.35	71 (51–91)	0.001 (z=-3.278)	66.91 ± 22.93	68 (50–83)	0.985 (z=-0.019)
Economic condition	Income less than expenses	23.5 (n=910)	77.32 ± 29.2	76 (55–98)	0.0001 (F=9.757)ab	70.83 ± 23.38	72 (53.75–86)	0.0001 (kw=44.314)abc
	Income equal to expenses	56.4 (n=2181)	72.47 ± 27.42	71 (50.5–92)		66.35 ± 22.55	67 (50–82)
	Income more than expenses	20.1 (n=779)	73.88 ± 27.31	72 (53–92)		63.68 ± 23.67	63 (46–80)
Consulting a psychotherapist	Yes	15.2 (n=589)	77.49 ± 28.74	76 (55–97)	0.001 (t=3.401)	71.15 ± 25.45	73 (51.5–87)	0.0001 (z=-4.262)
Consulting a psychotherapist	No	84.8 (n=3281)	73.25 ± 27.69	72 (51–93)	0.001 (t=3.401)	66.1 ± 22.57	67 (50–82)	0.0001 (z=-4.262)
Pregnancy status	Planned pregnancy	80.2 (n=3104)	74.34 ± 27.89	73 (53–94)	0.046 (t=1.999)	66.16 ± 22.87	66.5 (49–83)	0.0001 (z=-3.81)
Pregnancy status	Unplanned pregnancy	19.8 (n=766)	72.09 ± 27.84	71 (49–91)	0.046 (t=1.999)	69.73 ± 23.79	72 (53–85)	0.0001 (z=-3.81)
Type of conception	Natural pregnancy	92.2 (n=3570)	73.39 ± 27.74	72 (51–93)	0.0001 (t=-3.939)	66.89 ± 23.13	68 (50–83)	0.945 (z=-0.069)
Type of conception	Pregnancy through treatment	7.8 (n=300)	79.98 ± 28.95	77.5 (57–102.75)	0.0001 (t=-3.939)	66.64 ± 22.74	67 (51.25–83)	0.945 (z=-0.069)
Health problems during pregnancy	There is a problem	26.1 (n=1009)	75.99 ± 28.85	74 (53–97)	0.007 (t=2.707)	70.65 ± 23.77	72 (54–85)	0.0001 (z=-5.714)
Health problems during pregnancy	There is no problem	73.9 (n=2861)	73.16 ± 27.51	72 (51–92)	0.007 (t=2.707)	65.54 ± 22.71	66 (49–82)	0.0001 (z=-5.714)
The status of downloading an application with regard to fetal development	Yes, I downloaded	91.4 (n=3538)	74.42 ± 27.72	73 (53–94)	0.0001 (z=-3.949)	66.58 ± 22.95	67 (50–83)	0.017 (z=-2.393)
	No, I did not download	8.6 (n=332)	68.35 ± 29.1	66.5 (44.25–87)	0.0001 (z=-3.949)	69.93 ± 24.46	70.5 (53–85)	0.017 (z=-2.393)

		W-DEQ-A				p
		Mild n (%)	Moderate n (%)	Severe n (%)	Clinical n (%)	p
NMP-Q	None	5 (1.1)	5 (0.4)	2 (0.2)	1 (0.1)	0.0001 (cs=196.253)
	Mild	211 (45.9)	530 (38.7)	370 (31.4)	185 (21.4)
	Moderate	179 (38.9)	649 (47.4)	589 (50)	391 (45.3)
	Extreme	65 (14.1)	184 (13.5)	218 (18.5)	286 (33.1)

		Univariate			Multiple
		p	OR	95%CI for OR	p	OR	95%CI for OR
Ref: low income	Economic (equal)	0.0001	0.676	0.566–0.806	0.004	0.762	0.633–0.916
Ref: low income	Economic (rich)	0.0001	0.56	0.444–0.707	0.0001	0.628	0.493–0.799
–	Curettage	0.019	1.204	1.03–1.406	0.170	1.122	0.952–1.323
Ref: planned	Pregnancy plan (unplanned)	0.011	1.267	1.055–1.522	0.008	1.293	1.068–1.566
Ref: no	Problem during pregnancy (yes)	0.0001	1.49	1.263–1.758	0.0001	1.370	1.152–1.629
Ref: no	Previous psychiatric diagnosis (yes)	0.0001	1.674	1.378–2.034	0.177	1.265	0.899–1.78
Ref: no	Previous psychiatric drug (evet)	0.0001	1.586	1.33–1.891	0.191	1.229	0.902–1.673
–	Daily phone time code	0.0001	1.102	1.056–1.149	0.714	1.009	0.964–1.055
Ref: no	Online education (yes)	0.006	0.589	0.404–0.86	0.013	0.609	0.413–0.9
–	Nomototal	0.0001	1.019	1.017–1.022	0.0001	1.019	1.016–1.022
Ref: not advanced	Nomophobic (advanced)	0.0001	2.696	2.268–3.204	–	–	–

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[1] *Corresponding author: fadimebayri@gmail.com