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Abstract
This study was conducted on a group of 604 young women aged 19-24 who are not and had never been pregnant before. The aim of the study was to analyse their attitudes towards possible pregnancy, childbirth, motherhood, health care and gynaecological care in Poland and family narratives building attitudes towards pregnancy and childbirth. An additional aim was to examine the relationship between self-esteem, self-efficiency, evaluation of the health service in Poland and traumatic birth narratives in the surroundings of the respondents and the declared desire to have
a child. Self-assessment of women was measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, self-efficacy was tested using the Generalised Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES). Attitudes and birth narratives were examined using a proprietary questionnaire. According to the survey, the majority of women are moderately or significantly afraid of childbirth, particularly labour complications and pain associated with childbirth. More than 75% of the women surveyed heard from their relatives about their traumatic experiences. Despite this, almost 92% of the women surveyed would like to become pregnant and give birth, and more than 90% of women see childbirth as a natural and instinctive phenomenon. Traumatic birth narratives in the family were associated with reduced GSES results. The evaluation of gynaecological care did not play a role in the development of tokophobia or in the declared desire to have a child.
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