ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
This article is part of the Research TopicPublic Health Innovations for Enhancing Newborn and Maternal Well-BeingView all 11 articles
Effect of Meditation and Prenatal Education on Fear and Confidence in Vaginal Delivery
Provisionally accepted
- 1Obstetrics Department, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
- 2Nursing Department of Staff Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
- 3Clinical Nutrition Department, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
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Objectives: To evaluate the synergistic effect of meditation and relaxation techniques combined with prenatal multimedia health education on reducing fear of childbirth, enhancing childbirth confidence, and improving postpartum outcomes in women undergoing vaginal delivery. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted at a single tertiary hospital from February 2021 and February 2024. A total of 212 women who underwent vaginal delivery were included, with 102 in the treatment group receiving meditation, relaxation techniques, and multimedia health education alongside standard prenatal care, and 110 in the control group receiving only standard prenatal care. Clinical data collected included fear of childbirth scores (W-DEQ), confidence scores (CBSEI), anxiety levels (S-AI), depression scores (SDS, EPDS), and labor duration. Statistical analyses compared these measures between groups at different stages of pregnancy and postpartum. Results: Labor duration did not significantly differ between groups (P>0.05). At 36 weeks of pregnancy, the treatment group had significantly lower W-DEQ scores (48.85±6.22 vs. 59.35±6.47; P<0.001) and S-AI scores (51.64±1.08 vs. 58.63±1.04; P<0.001), and higher CBSEI scores (7.88±1.41 vs. 5.17±1.62; P<0.001). Postpartum, the treatment group showed higher GCQ (92.77±1.65 vs. 86.53±1.27; P<0.001) and LAS scores (175.61±16.53 vs. 117.34±13.24; P<0.001), along with lower EPDS scores (4.08±1.22 vs. 5.26±1.54; P<0.001). No significant differences were observed in adverse reactions between groups (P>0.05). Conclusions: Integrating meditation, relaxation techniques, and prenatal multimedia health education significantly reduces fear of childbirth, boosts childbirth confidence, and alleviates postpartum depression, without increasing adverse reactions. This approach is clinically beneficial for improving maternal mental health.
Keywords: Meditation and relaxation, Prenatal multimedia health education, Vaginal delivery women, Fear of childbirth, Confidence in childbirth
Received: 25 Sep 2025; Accepted: 28 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhu, Zhou, Wang, Ma and Yong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Dandan Yong
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