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Digital Prenatal Education to Reduce Fear of Childbirth in Term Pregnancy

NCT07743502 · Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 176

Last updated 2026-08-04

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Many pregnant women feel afraid of giving birth. This fear is common and can affect how a woman experiences labour, the type of birth she has, and how she feels afterwards.

Antenatal education helps women prepare for birth, but not everyone can attend the classes offered at health centres. Work schedules, family duties or travel distance often get in the way.

This study looks at whether an online education programme can help. The programme is a website that women can use at home, at any time, from a phone, tablet or computer. It explains how labour works, what pain relief and other options are available, how to prepare a birth plan, and how to manage difficult feelings. It also includes videos filmed in the hospital where the women will give birth, so the place feels familiar before they arrive.

Women taking part will be pregnant with one baby, will have a pregnancy considered low risk, and will be at least 37 weeks pregnant when they start. Half of the women will be given access to the website, chosen at random, like tossing a coin. The other half will receive the usual antenatal care offered by their midwife and doctor. All women continue with their normal pregnancy care.

Women will answer a questionnaire about their feelings towards birth when they join the study, and a second questionnaire in the first two weeks after their baby is born. The researchers will compare the answers of the two groups to see whether the website made a difference. Information about the birth will also be collected from the medical records.

The study will take place in Gran Canaria, Spain, and will include 176 women. It is run by midwives as part of a specialist training programme and has no commercial funding.

Conditions

  • Fear of Childbirth
  • Tocophobia
  • Pregnancy Related Anxiety

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Web-based prenatal education platform

Asynchronous, self-paced digital education programme delivered through a password-protected website accessible from any internet-connected device. Content is organised in multimedia modules covering fear of childbirth, physiology of labour, pain management options, obstetric interventions, emotional coping strategies, guidance for the birth companion, immediate newborn care, and a virtual tour of the labour ward. Materials are evidence-based and adapted to local clinical protocols. Access is activated at 37+0 weeks and remains available until admission for birth. Server metrics record logins, session duration and modules accessed.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Sergio Mies Padilla

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Sabela Jiménez López RM · Complejo Hospitalario Universitario Materno Infantil de Canarias

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
FEMALE
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2026-10-01
Primary Completion
2026-12-31
Completion
2027-01-30

Countries

  • Spain

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT07743502 on ClinicalTrials.gov