Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Women's desire to have a child can be affected by their marital relationship. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of marital satisfaction and fear of childbirth on the desire to avoid pregnancy among married women. Since research addressing these variables together is limited, this study is expected to fill this research gap. METHODS: This is a descriptive and cross-sectional study conducted with 300 married women after a power analysis with f² = 0.424, 5% type I error, and 95% confidence interval. Data were collected using a Socio-demographic Questionnaire and the Scales of Marital Satisfaction, Women's Childbirth Fear-Prior to Pregnancy, and Desire to Avoid Pregnancy (DAP). Hierarchical regression and correlation analysis were employed to analyse the data. RESULTS: Hierarchical regression revealed that fear of childbirth (β = 0.496, p < 0.001), marital satisfaction (β=-0.147, p < 0.001), and duration of marriage (β = 0.151, p < 0.001) were significant predictors of DAP. The final model explained 29.8% of the variance in DAP (R² = 0.298 F (4. 297) = 31.055, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Women who have fear of childbirth and low marital satisfaction exhibit pregnancy desire to avoid pregnancy. This situation suggests that women's marital processes may influence their perspectives on pregnancy and childbirth. Considering these results, it is important to integrate counselling and educational interventions into reproductive health services that address both marital dynamics and fears related to childbirth.