Effect of Haptonomy on Prenatal Attachment and Fear of Childbirth in Primiparous Couples

January 30, 2026 updated by: Sibel DİLMEN, Nigde Omer Halisdemir University

The Effect of Haptonomy Application for Primiparous Pregnant Women and Their Partners on Prenatal Attachment and Fear of Childbirth: A Randomized Controlled Study

This study was planned to evaluate the effect of haptonomy practice for primiparous pregnant women and their partners on prenatal attachment and fear of childbirth.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Aim: This study was designed to evaluate the effect of haptonomy practice for primiparous pregnant women and their partners on prenatal attachment and fear of childbirth.

Methods: This randomized controlled experimental study will include primiparous pregnant women and their partners (36 couples in the experimental group and 36 couples in the control group) who apply to the childbirth education class of a public hospital in Turkey and are between 24-26 weeks of gestation.

The experimental group will receive haptonomy education in the childbirth class. Afterwards, a video-based haptonomy program will be delivered via e-mail or WhatsApp. Couples will be asked to perform haptonomy exercises once a week for 40 minutes over five weeks. No intervention will be applied to the control group.

Data will be collected before the intervention and at the end of the fifth week using the Personal Information Form, Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI), Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire Version A (W-DEQ A), Paternal-Fetal Attachment Scale (PFAS), and Fathers' Fear of Childbirth Scale (FFOC).

Data analysis will include frequency and percentage distributions, chi-square test, t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, repeated measures analysis, two-way ANOVA, Friedman test, and Cohen's d test.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

144

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Turkey (Türkiye)
    • Sivas
      • Merkez, Sivas, Turkey (Türkiye), 58000
        • Recruiting
        • Sivas Cumhuriyet University
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • nilüfer tuğut, professor

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • • At least a primary school graduate

    • Between the 24th and 26th weeks of pregnancy
    • According to calculations made by ultrasound based on the last menstrual period or, for pregnant women who do not know their last menstrual period, between the 24th and 26th weeks of pregnancy
    • Primiparous
    • No history of abortion/curettage
    • Planned/desired pregnancy
    • Desired baby gender
    • Living with spouse
    • Attended pregnancy classes
    • Able to use technology such as computers and mobile phones to watch videos
    • No barriers to understanding questions and responding
    • No previous training on fear of childbirth or prenatal bonding
    • Not having previously received education on haptonomy or practised haptonomy
    • Not undergoing infertility treatment
    • Being between the ages of 19 and 35

Exclusion Criteria:

  • • Be at least 26 weeks pregnant

    • Live separately from spouse
    • Have an unplanned/unwanted pregnancy
    • Not want the baby to be of a specific gender
    • Not use technology
    • Be a high-risk pregnancy
    • Have previously received training on fear of childbirth and prenatal bonding
    • Having previously received training in haptonomy and practised haptonomy
    • Deciding to discontinue haptonomy practice after the study began and/or giving birth prematurely before completing the practice sessions

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: experimental group
Haptonomy training will be provided to the experimental group within the childbirth class. Afterwards, the video-based haptonomy program will be sent via e-mail or WhatsApp. Couples will be asked to practice haptonomy exercises for five weeks, one 40-minute session per week.
Behavioral: Haptonomy
Since there are no studies in the literature evaluating the effect of planned video modelling haptonomy on prenatal bonding and fear of childbirth in expectant mothers and fathers, it is believed that the results obtained from this study will contribute significantly to the literature by guiding and shedding light on future studies.
Other Names:
  • Haptonomy, as a field dealing with emotional contact through touch, describe the relationship between parents and the unborn baby.
No Intervention: control group
Standard of care Group The control group will not receive any treatment

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire version A (W-DEQ-A)
Time Frame: Baseline
The W-DEQ-A is a validated,to determine the level of birth fear experienced by pregnant women.Answers in the scale are numbered from 0 to 5 and are in a six-point Likert type. The minimum score that can be obtained from the scale is 0, and the maximum score is 165.
Baseline
Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI)
Time Frame: Baseline
The PAI is a validated, explain thoughts, feelings, and situations experienced by woman during pregnancy and to determine the level of attachment to infant in prenatal period. Each item is of a four-point Likert type, with a score between 1 and 4. A minimum score of 21 and a maximum score of 84 can be obtained from the scale. Increase in the score obtained by pregnant indicates that level of attachment also increases.
Baseline
Paternal-Fetal Attachment Scale (PFAS)
Time Frame: Baseline
PFAS is a validated scale used to determine the level of paternal-fetal attachment. The responses are rated on a four-point Likert scale ranging from 1 to 4. The minimum possible total score is 23, and the maximum is 92.
Baseline
Fathers' Fear of Childbirth Scale (FFOC)
Time Frame: Baseline
The FFOC is a validated instrument used to determine fathers' level of fear related to childbirth. The responses are rated on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 to 5. The minimum possible total score is 17, and the maximum is 85.
Baseline

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI)
Time Frame: Week 5
The PAI is a validated, explain thoughts, feelings, and situations experienced by woman during pregnancy and to determine the level of attachment to infant in prenatal period. Each item is of a four-point Likert type, with a score between 1 and 4. A minimum score of 21 and a maximum score of 84 can be obtained from the scale. Increase in the score obtained by pregnant indicates that level of attachment also increases.
Week 5
Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire version A (W-DEQ-A)
Time Frame: Week 5
The W-DEQ-A is a validated,to determine the level of birth fear experienced by pregnant women.Answers in the scale are numbered from 0 to 5 and are in a six-point Likert type. The minimum score that can be obtained from the scale is 0, and the maximum score is 165.
Week 5
Paternal-Fetal Attachment Scale (PFAS)
Time Frame: Week 5
PFAS is a validated scale used to determine the level of paternal-fetal attachment. The responses are rated on a four-point Likert scale ranging from 1 to 4. The minimum possible total score is 23, and the maximum is 92.
Week 5
Fathers' Fear of Childbirth Scale (FFOC)
Time Frame: Week 5
The FFOC is a validated instrument used to determine fathers' level of fear related to childbirth. The responses are rated on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 to 5. The minimum possible total score is 17, and the maximum is 85.
Week 5

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Nigde Omer Halisdemir University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Nilüfer Tugut, Prof. Dr., Cumhuriyet University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

March 26, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 27, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

April 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 31, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 23, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

December 4, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 3, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 30, 2026

Last Verified

January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • OHU-DKH-SD-01

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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