The effect of individual education and care provided in living spaces to pregnant women in the earthquake region on prenatal distress, risk perception, and labour anxiety.

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of individual education and care given to pregnant women in their living spaces on prenatal distress, risk perception, and labour anxiety.

Method: The study was conducted with 60 pregnant women primiparous pregnant women over 20 weeks of gestation. Data for this quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest designed randomised control group study were collected using the Prenatal Distress Scale, the Perception of Pregnancy Risk Questionnaire, and the Oxford Worries about Labour Scale. Education and care were provided in four 30-minute sessions, scheduled on mutually agreed-upon days and times in the living spaces of the pregnant women in the intervention group. These sessions were based on modules prepared by the researchers according to the women's trimesters. Pregnant women in the control group received routine pregnancy follow-ups concurrently with the intervention group.

Results: The mean posttest score of the pregnant women was 33.5 ± 4.1 in the intervention group and 23.6 ± 4.9 in the control group (p = 0.001). The mean posttest score for the Risk Perception Scale was 3 ± 0.9 in the intervention group and 5.6 ± 2.2 in the control group. For Prenatal Distress, the mean post-test score was 1.4 ± 2.2 in the intervention group and 13.2 ± 9.1 in the control group (p = 0.001).

Conclusion: The results of this study show that providing education to pregnant women in their living spaces following a disaster effectively reduces their risk perceptions, prenatal distress, and labour anxiety.

Date of registration: 26.10.2023 (NCT06110819).