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. 2022 Jun 28;22(1):529.
doi: 10.1186/s12884-022-04748-2.

Attitudes toward medicalization in childbirth and their relationship with locus of control and coping in a Spanish population

Maite Espinosa  1 , Isabel Artieta-Pinedo  2   3   4 , Carmen Paz-Pascual  2   5   6 , Paola Bully-Garay  7 , Arturo García-Álvarez  2 ; ema-Q. Group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Attitudes toward medicalization in childbirth and their relationship with locus of control and coping in a Spanish population

Maite Espinosa et al. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. .

Abstract

The dominant model of childbirth in most Western countries is medicalized childbirth. Women's beliefs about whether childbirth should be a medicalized process to a greater or lesser degree may be related, in addition to contextual factors, to internal factors. The objective of the study is to find out if women's locus of control (LC) and stress coping strategies (CS) are related to having a more favourable or less favourable attitude towards medicalization (ATMC). A cross-sectional study was carried out with the participation of 248 women recruited in primary care centres by their midwives. All the women filled in answers on a mobile phone app with various different measurement instruments: the questionnaire created by Benyamini to evaluate their ATMC; the Spanish version of the Wallston MLC to evaluate their LC; and the Spanish adaptation of the "Revised Prenatal Coping Inventory (NuPCI)" scale for the assessment of their CS. The women presented a favourable attitude towards medicalization, with a mean ATMC score of 3.42. Both the LC and the CS of women during pregnancy are related to this attitude. Specifically, having an internal LC and using preparative CS both lower the probability of presenting a favourable attitude towards medicalization, while the lack of a paid job raises the probability. For each point in internal locus and preparatory coping, the ATMC score decreased by 0.02 and 0.23 points, respectively, while it increased by 0.18 for not having a paid job. The influence of these psychological factors must be taken into account in the development of content and interventions that promote a more natural birth.

Keywords: Attitude towards medicalization of childbirth; Coping; Locus of control; Pregnancy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow of participants throughout the study
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Medicalization of Childbirth questionnaire: frequency and percentage of agreement on items linked to a positive attitude towards medicalization (above) vs agreement on items linked to a negative attitude towards medicalization (below). (N = 250)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Relationship between the locus of control (“Internality”, “Chance externality” and “Powerful other externality” scores) and the score in attitude towards medicalization for each one
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Relationship between the Coping style (“avoidant”, “preparatory” and “spiritual” scores) and the score in attitude towards medicalization for each one
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Relationship between having a paid job and attitude towards medicalization in childbirth score
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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