Childbirth readiness mediates the effect of social support on psychological birth trauma of primiparous women: a nationwide online cross-sectional study in China

Abstract

Abstract Background The detrimental impact of psychological birth trauma is far-reaching for women. This study aimed to identify the relationship between social support, childbirth readiness, and psychological birth trauma and to further explore whether childbirth readiness can play a mediating role. Methods A nationwide online cross-sectional study was conducted among 751 primiparous women in seven provinces in China from November 2021 to March 2022. The questionnaire consisted of questions on demographic characteristics, the Psychological Birth Trauma Scale (PBTS), the Chinese Mandarin version of the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS-CM), and the Childbirth Readiness Scale (CRS). Hierarchical multiple regression was used to explore the associate factors and mediating role of childbirth readiness in the relationship between social support and psychological birth trauma. The mediating model was examined by the PROCESS macro for SPSS. Results After adjusting for demographic variables, social support was negatively associated with psychological birth trauma (r=-0.242, P<0.01). Childbirth readiness had a positive correlation with social support (r = 0.206, P<0.01) and a negative correlation with psychological birth trauma (r=-0.351, P<0.01). The hierarchical multiple regression model indicated that social support and childbirth readiness explained 3.9% and 7.7% of the variance in psychological birth trauma, respectively. Childbirth readiness partly mediated the association between social support and psychological birth trauma for primiparas. Conclusions Childbirth readiness played a mediating role between social support and psychological birth trauma among primiparas. Strategies and interventions to enhance childbirth readiness levels may be expected to improve the impact of social support on women's psychological birth trauma.