PRENATAL EXPECTATIONS AND FEARS IN PREGNANT-WOMEN

The aim of this study was to extend the medical knowledge of the prena tal expectations and wishes of pregnant women with respect to themselv es, their partners and the maternity ward selected for the approaching birth, and also of the anxieties arising in this connection. In summa ry, our study shows that the desire to experience birth in the most na tural, undisturbed and unmanipulated form possible is reiterated frequ ently, but is relativized by the intense need to be reassured of the s afety of the unborn child. Fears experienced before the birth were foc used accordingly on the condition of the child, although 25% of the wo men questioned acknowledged a marked fear of helplessness and failure. The obstetric team were expected to offer, as far as possible, the co ntinuous personal supervision of a doctor and a midwife who were prepa red to allow the patient the responsibility of being involved in obste tric decisions.