en Midwifery Original Article <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Background:</span></span></span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""> The research was carried out to examine the effect of a parenting preparation course given to midwifery students during an academic semester on the preferred mode of delivery, fear of childbirth, and traumatic birth perception.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Methods:</span></span></span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""> This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design that included 47 second-year students enrolled in the parenting preparation course. Students took the parenthood preparation course, 2 hours a week, for 14 weeks. Data were collected using a descriptive information form, the pre-pregnancy fear of birth scale, and the perception of traumatic birth scale. Paired t-test and chi-square test were used to evaluate intragroup and intergroup differences. The data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 software at a statistical significance of 0.05.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Results:</span></span></span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""> The mean age of the students was 20.13&plusmn;0.67 years. The mean score of pre-pregnancy fear of childbirth was 40.46&plusmn;9.37 in the pretest and 23.61&plusmn;6.79 in the posttest. In addition, the mean score of traumatic childbirth perception decreased from 77.34&plusmn;25.15 in the pretest to 39.44&plusmn;13.78 in the posttest. The number of students who preferred cesarean section decreased significantly, while the number of students who preferred vaginal delivery increased after the preparation course. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Conclusion: </span></span></span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Parenting preparation classes can contribute to the reduction of fear of childbirth and the perception of traumatic childbirth in women.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div> Fear of childbirth, traumatic birth, prenatal education, perception, midwifery 45 49 http://nmj.goums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1440-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Ezgi ŞAHİN ezgishn90@gmail.com 100319475328460010396 100319475328460010396 Yes Giresun University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Midwifery Department, Giresun, Turkey Saadet YAZICI sadetyazici@gmail.com 100319475328460010397 100319475328460010397 No Istanbul Health and Technology University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Nursing Department, Istanbul, Turkey