Män, förlossningsrädsla och Auroraverksamhet

Sammanfattning: Research has shown fear of childbirth to be as common among men as women, but the phenomenon has not been as studied among men. Some men have trouble talking about their fear and therefore don’t get the support that they need. Where to go to get help is not so obvious for these men. The name mostly used for this clinic is Aurora. Men and women come here to get help and support to process their fears and plan for the upcoming delivery. Aurora is also available after a traumatic deliver to process the experience. The aim of this study was to describe men’s experiences of Aurora clinics as husband/partner accompanying a woman with fear of childbirth, and to investigate the existence of fear among the men themselves. Questionnaires were sent to 41 men, of who 27 answered who took part in Aurora clinic at a hospital in south of Sweden. The data was analyzed descriptive, with Chi-2 test and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test. The results showed that all part taking men suffered from fear of childbirth to some extent, but the men chose to take part in Aurora mainly to support the woman. The men felt confirmed, supported and taken seriously. Most men had a positive childbirth experience after taking part in Aurora. A surprising find was that few men stated that a birth plan had been established, even thou this should be routine. The findings were surprisingly positive. The midwife giving antenatal care, is the one how should identify fear of childbirth in men and women, but no specific measures are taken to find them. In our study we found several men who were afraid of childbirth, who hadn’t been discovered before. Screening all parents-to-be for fear of childbirth could possibly be a way to find more.