Authors
The article under analysis is titled “Childbirth Fear, Anxiety, Fatigue, and Sleep Deprivation in Pregnant Women”. The research therein was compiled and analyzed by Wendy A. Hall a Ph.D. holder working as a professor at the University Of British Columbia School Of Nursing, Yvonne L. Hauck (Ph.D.) a professor at the University Of Western Australia, School of population health, Elaine M. Carty a retired professor from the University Of British Columbia School Of Nursing, Eileen K. Hutton an associate professor (Ph.D., RN) of obstetrics and gynecology at the McMaster University in Hamilton. She is also the assistant dean at the University. In addition to this, Jennifer Fenwick also an associate professor under the faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Health at the University of Technology in Sidney Australia played an important role in the research accompanied by Kathrin Stoll a Ph.D. student at the University of British Columbia undertaking a course in interdisciplinary studies. It is through the teamwork and determination of the named scholars that this elaborate and informative study on “Childbirth Fear, Anxiety, Fatigue, and Sleep Deprivation in Pregnant Women” was compiled.
Abstract
The article begins with a brief but detailed abstract which summarizes the objective of the study which was “To explore women’s levels of childbirth fear, sleep deprivation, anxiety, and fatigue and their relationships during the third trimester of pregnancy,” the design used which in this case was a descriptive survey of a community sample, the selected participants amounting to 650 English-speaking pregnant women aged between 17 and 46 years at their third trimester with no pregnancy complication. The abstract also highlights the use of the “Wijma delivery, Speilberg state, Mindell’s sleep, and the Multidimensional Assessment of fatigue” questionnaires as the methods used to gather the required information and assessments. Additionally, it includes the report of the findings which indicates that 25% of the participants experienced childbirth fears, 20.6% reported having sleeping disorders. Also, there was a close correlation between anxiety, childbirth fears, sleep deprivation and fatigue. Conclusively it was discovered that women with less help, stressors and anxiety experienced childbirth fears and as such, “this aspect described women’s emotional experiences during pregnancy” (hall, Hauck & Carty, 2009).
Nature of the study
The study is qualitative by nature. Qualitative research seeks to gather data evolving around human behaviors. In addition to this, it aims at answering the question of why and not how aspects appear as they do. From this article, the authors have used a cross-sectional descriptive survey as the design, and questionnaires to gather the data as to why these anomalies affect the participants and pregnant women in general. The purpose of the study which was; “to examine relationships among women’s childbirth fear, sleep deprivation, fatigue, and state anxiety in a sample of 650 pregnant women in the province of British Columbia (BC)”, is clearly stated within the introductory part of the article. As such, the purpose of the study further validates the problem being researched which in this case was the general increase in women opting for caesarian births all over the world due to the above-named psychological factors as exhibited by the findings of the selected participants. The problem being studied has therefore been identified through the generalization of the issue (global) and then giving the specifics as to why the issue is present within the selected population with detailed references to the psychological factors that have contributed to its emergence.
Objectives and hypothesis
The main objective of this study was to “To explore women’s levels of childbirth fear, sleep deprivation, anxiety, and fatigue and their relationships during the third trimester of pregnancy,” and the hypotheses were numbered as follows: “Describe women’s levels of childbirth fear, describe women’s sleep deprivation, examine relationships among levels of childbirth fear and sleep, anxiety, fatigue, and contextual factors, with the goal of identifying predictors of childbirth fear; and examine similarities and deference in nulliparous and multiparous women in terms of childbirth fear, sleep deprivation, anxiety, and fatigue.” however, there were no research questions directly addressed.
Literature review
The literature review used in the study showcased a number of sources that specifically dwelt on the evaluation of the hypotheses all the while providing statistical data from different credible sources regarding the numerical extent to which the factors addressed affected the selected participants. Evidently, the literature review presented more statistical information on the study than the psychological aspects addressed therein. On the same note, the references used were very current dating from the year 2000 to 2009. Also, in the event that older references were used (before 2000), they were not included in the in-text citation but due credit was given on the reference page. To further show that the information used is current, the authors have used the APA style of referencing which demand the naming of the author as well as the year of publication of the article/book be shown where used in text and on the reference page, name of the author, title of the book/article, year of publication and the name of the publishers as well as their location.
Variables, design and framework
The variables (independent or dependent) examined in the study were clearly identified. They were analyzed according to their impacts on the issues as shown in the tables (pp.572-573). The study also had a general framework which as per the authors was to divide the research into phases. The first phase of the research aimed at “describing characteristics of 650 pregnant women, 35 to 39 weeks gestation, with respect to sleep, anxiety, fatigue, and childbirth fear. Through the hypothesis in this phase, the link between childbirth fears, and other factors such as personality traits and socio-demographic aspects were studied. This type of framework is common in the nursing arena whereby they have to identify the problems, categorize the variables and then solve each methodically in order to arrive at the final findings.
Sample population, selection criterion and ethical analysis
According to the authors, the sample population comprises 650 pregnant women in their third trimester with uncomplicated pregnancies who are nulliparous and multiparous and from the British Columbia province. For the participants to qualify for the study, they had to be in their third trimester of pregnancy, from the BC province, and have no pregnancy-related complications. In addition to this, “the study was reviewed and approved by the University of British Columbia review board as well as the BC Women and Children’s Hospital Ethics Committee”. Media was also used to further inform the public of the progress of the study. All these were done to ensure that the ethical requirements expected from such studies were adhered to.
The methodology used in data collection and analysis
The data in the study was collected using an array of questionnaires specifically designed by credible scholars to address the variables presented in this study. The authors adopted the “Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 16.0” to handle all statistical analyses. This involved the use of standard deviations, averages, means and medians, frequency distributions and categorizing the women as regarding the variables that affected them. From the analytic findings, it is evident that these psychological factors do indeed affect a large number of women not only in the province of BC but globally. As such, nurses are required to prepare themselves or rather update their knowledge on how to handle such situations as well as involve themselves more in the lives of these women in order to help them manage and alleviate their fears and anxiety as they approach childbirth.
Suggestions and recommendations
The authors of the article further state that the problem addressed are common globally. Consequently, they have put forward a suggestion that practitioners address these concerns and researchers devote themselves to studying this area extensively. The correlation between sleep deprivation, anxiety and childbirth fears should further be explored in order to provide a clearer understanding of how they affect the health of the unborn child as well as that of the prospective mothers. This is because most of the literature used seems to offer different findings on these variables. Other than that, the research question and hypothesis have been synchronized accordingly throughout the article and the data compiled have eloquently addressed the issues and at the same time validated the hypotheses brought forward. In addition to this, the authors have clearly and meticulously organized the study making it easy for others who would like to pursue similar studies to understand the methodologies and outline. Decisively, the research has been presented in such a way that it can be used as a guideline for further studies on the topic as well as a good example to use while replicating such a study.
Conclusion
Conclusively, the selection of this article was purely based on the fact that it is a perfect example of thoroughness in research, professionalism and upmost organization. The authors have gone to great extents to cover the entire necessary concepts regarding the topic by using credible references and up-to-date sources throughout their work. Additionally, they have critically analyzed the data collected and compared it with that of other similar studies in order to provide clarity. Through this article, I have learned how best to organize a research paper. This newfound knowledge will help me further critique other studies on the basis of prose, literature review, methodology, data analysis and design.
Reference
Hall, W. A., Hauck Y. L., & Carty E. M. (2009). Childbirth Fear, Anxiety, Fatigue, and Sleep Deprivation in Pregnant Women. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing. 38 (5), 567 – 576.