Introduction: Fear is described as an answer to a threat, while fear of childbirth is the anxiety before giving birth. Its symptoms are usually nightmares, difficulty concentrating, physical symptoms (excessive sweating, trouble sleeping…), and the elective choice for a cesarean section. The causes for such fear differ for each pregnant woman, though not by much. They are usually afraid of prolonged birth, medical procedures, pain, self-doubt, and having had another traumatic birthing experience. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to present the fear of childbirth. The aim is to answer the questions: »What are the reasons for pregnant women to fear childbirth? « and »What are the reasons for non-pregnant students to fear childbirth? « Methods: In the thesis we used the literature review method. The literature search was performed using CINAHL, Cochrane, Pubmed, and Cobiss. The literature sourced from reference lists and other sources was used. The literature search took place between January 2022 and March 2023. We used the following keywords: »birth AND fear OR anxiety OR worry OR distress/ AND nursing«, »birth AND students«, »strah pred porodom«, »strah IN porod«, »strah IN nosečnost« Results: Reasons for fear of childbirth are different with pregnant women and students. Pregnant women experience higher anxiety about childbirth if they have already had anxiety or bad experiences at previous births. Fear is also influenced by the level of loneliness and knowledge, and the planning status of pregnancy. Students have higher levels of anxiety if they have preexisting anxiety, or depression, or are under a lot of stress. Fear levels are also higher if they perceive vaginal birth as a greater risk than a cesarean section and thus prefer it. Students who had the media as their main source had the highest levels of fear of childbirth. Discussion and conclusion: Fear of childbirth is not limited to pregnant women. It occurs prior to pregnancy and women are influenced by various cultural, social, familial, and other factors. During this period, students are most concerned about physical changes and sexual function after childbirth. In addition to the factors already mentioned, pregnant women are also influenced by the information they receive from health professionals and others they trust during pregnancy.
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