Online Pain Neuroscience Education For Fear Of Childbirth.

NCT07471269 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: UNIVERSITY CARDENAL HERRERA-71
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 400
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Fear of childbirth ranges from mild worry to severe anxiety and affects women of all ages. It is often linked to perceiving childbirth as unpredictable and painful. Women cope by seeking support, practicing relaxation, or attending prenatal education, with information playing a key role in reducing anxiety and increasing confidence. Pain neuroscience education has shown benefits in reducing pain, anxiety, and related fears by teaching the neurobiological mechanisms underlying pain.

Conditions

Fear of Childbirth

Keywords

fear of childbirth; pregnancy; pain neuroscience education; prenatal education

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Fear of childbirth

  The Wijma Delivery Expectancy Questionnaire (W-DEQ) version A, validated in Spanish, has shown excellent psychometric properties. This instrument consists of 33 items scored from 1 to 6, with higher scores indicating greater fear of childbirth.

  4 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Pain catastrophizing

  4 weeks

• Anxiety and depression

  4 weeks

Study Arms (2)

Pain neuroscience education (PNE)

EXPERIMENTAL

The patients in the intervention group will receive, in addition to the prenatal educational content, the 12 PNE lessons in audiovisual format. Each lesson will last between 10-15 minutes. The contents of PNE will be an adaptation, focused on the context of a pregnant woman, of the Butler \& Moseley postulates. These contents have already been previously adapted according to the nature of the patients' pain, both in chronic pain and in acute pain. In summary, the participants will receive a detailed explanation about the biopsychosocial component of pain through the use of diagrams, metaphors and practical examples. In turn, the objectives of this program could be summarized as: (1) Reformulate erroneous beliefs about pain, (2) Inform about the biology and protective nature of pain and (3) Provide techniques to reduce kinesiophobia and, consequently, promote physical activity, with the beneficial effect it entails for patients with pain.

Other: Pain neuroscience education; Other: Prenatal education

Prenatal education (PE)

EXPERIMENTAL

Patients assigned to the PE group will receive different content on standard PE based on the Pregnancy and Postpartum Clinical Practice Guide, consisting of general information about pregnancy (visits and monitoring of pregnancy, diet, phases of delivery, lactation, etc.), as well as specific recommendations for lumbopelvic pain associated with pregnancy. These contents will be developed by midwives from the participating hospitals. Participants will receive 12 educational sessions, with an estimated duration of 10 minutes each.

Other: Prenatal education

Interventions

Prenatal education OTHER

The standard prenatal education is based on the Pregnancy and Postpartum Clinical Practice Guide, consisting of general information about pregnancy (visits and monitoring of pregnancy, diet, phases of delivery, lactation, etc.), as well as specific recommendations for lumbopelvic pain associated with pregnancy. These contents will be developed by midwives from the participating hospitals. Participants will receive 12 educational sessions, with an estimated duration of 10 minutes each.

Pain neuroscience education (PNE); Prenatal education (PE)

Pain neuroscience education OTHER

The patients in the intervention group will receive, in addition to the prenatal educational content, the 12 Pain neuroscience education lessons in audiovisual format. Each lesson will last between 10-15 minutes. The contents of PNE will be an adaptation, focused on the context of a pregnant woman, of the Butler \& Moseley postulates. These contents have already been previously adapted according to the nature of the patients' pain, both in chronic pain and in acute pain. In summary, the participants will receive a detailed explanation about the biopsychosocial component of pain through the use of diagrams, metaphors and practical examples. In turn, the objectives of this program could be summarized as: (1) Reformulate erroneous beliefs about pain, (2) Inform about the biology and protective nature of pain and (3) Provide techniques to reduce kinesiophobia and, consequently, promote physical activity, with the beneficial effect it entails for patients with pain.

Pain neuroscience education (PNE)

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 50 Years
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Pregnant women over 18 years of age, primiparous or multiparous.
• At the beginning of the third trimester of pregnancy

You may not qualify if:

• Multiple pregnancies.
• Previous spinal surgery.
• Psychiatric disorders.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Cardenal Herrera University: lead

Study Sites (1)

University Cardenal Herrera

Alfara del Patriarca, Valencia, 46115, Spain

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Prenatal Education

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Patient Education as Topic; Health Education; Preventive Health Services; Health Services; Health Care Facilities Workforce and Services

Central Study Contacts

JF Lisón, Dr

CONTACT

0034606503108; juanfran@uchceu.es

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 10, 2026
• First Posted: March 13, 2026
• Study Start: March 26, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): September 26, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 26, 2026
• Last Updated: April 15, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-03

Locations

ES (1)