الفهرس 
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Abstract
Aim: Assess fear of childbirth and its effect on women’s preference for elective cesarean section. Method: Design: Cross sectional descriptive design was utilized. Setting: Study conducted at five obstetrical and gynecological private clinics in El-Mahalla El-Kobra city during the period from October 2015 to March 2016. Subjects: A purposive sample consisted of 205 pregnant women selected according to the inclusion criteria. Tools: Three tools were used for data collection (Structured Interview Questionnaire, Melender (2002) Questionnaire to measure factors associated with fear of childbirth and Childbirth Attitudes Questionnaire). Results revealed that 47.8% of pregnant women preferred elective cesarean section due to fear of vaginal birth, safer mode for the baby, no influence on postpartum sexual life and pain associated with delivery. Childbirth factor was the highest factor associated with fear of childbirth with mean ± SD 12.439 ± 3.949. Fear of pain, episiotomy and lacerations were the highest sub factors representative for childbirth factor (89.3%, 83.9%, and 82.4% respectively). The highest cause of fear of childbirth was negative mood factor with mean ± SD 13.302 ± 3.500. 50.0% of pregnant women who preferred cesarean section had high fear of childbirth. Conclusion: Childbirth factor was the highest factor associated with fear of childbirth. Fear of pain, episiotomy and lacerations were the highest sub factors representative for childbirth factor associated with fear of childbirth. Pregnant women with high fear of childbirth preferred cesarean section. Recommendations: Undertaking information, education and communication programs to increase the awareness of the women, husbands, health providers and society about normality and nature of childbirth and the complications of cesarean section on woman’s future life.