Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Linköping, County Council of Östergötland, Linköping, Sweden.
Objective. To compare obstetric outcomes for women with fear of childbirth who received counseling during pregnancy with women without fear of childbirth. Design. Descriptive, retrospective case-control study. Setting. University hospital, Linköping, Sweden. Sample. 353 women who were referred to a unit for psychosocial obstetrics and gynecology because of fear of childbirth constituted the index group and 579 women without fear of childbirth formed a reference group. Methods. Data were collected from standardized antenatal and delivery records. Main outcome measures. Delivery data. Results. Elective cesarean sections (CS) were more frequent in the index group (p