Longitudinal study of childbirth readiness and its related factors and consequences among low-risk pregnant women attending health centres in Tabriz, Iran

OBJECTIVE: Childbirth readiness can reflect women's childbirth readiness in terms of knowledge, psychological aspects and planning. The purpose of this study was to evaluate childbirth readiness, its related factors and consequences in Iranian pregnant women. DESIGN: This longitudinal study was the first stage (quantitative stage) of a sequential explanatory mixed-method study. It followed women during late pregnancy (from 37 weeks of gestation) and the postpartum period (4-6 weeks after childbirth) from March to September 2023. SETTING: Health centres of Tabriz, Iran. PARTICIPANTS: This study involved 360 pregnant women with a gestational age of 37 weeks and above, selected via cluster sampling. Participants were excluded for high-risk pregnancies, unfavourable incidents in the last 3 months, mental-psychological diseases or a prior caesarean section. OUTCOME MEASURES: Childbirth readiness and its related factors were assessed using several instruments completed from the 37th week of pregnancy onward, including the Childbirth Readiness Scale, a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Pregnancy Experience Scale and the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire Version A. The consequences of childbirth readiness were then evaluated 4-6 weeks post partum using the Childbirth Experience Questionnaire, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and the Postpartum-Specific Anxiety Scale. RESULTS: The mean (SD) childbirth readiness score was 67.83 (9.41) out of 90. In the adjusted general linear model (GLM), several factors were significantly associated with lower readiness. These included a higher fear of childbirth score (β -0.12, 95% CI -0.16 to -0.08, p