Anxiety Related to Child Bearing Process: A Descriptive Study

Abstract

Introduction: Anxiety in pregnancy and during delivery has severe complications for a mother and her developing baby. It has a great physiological, emotional and social impact on the woman. If the mother finds it difficult to adapt to the changes, she may suffer from anxiety and depression and it affects the physical and mental health of mother and child. Due to this fact, studies have been done about maternal anxiety related to the childbearing process. Objective: 1) Assess and compare the anxiety related to the childbearing process among primigravida and multigravida mothers. 2) Find out the correlation between the anxiety and their selected obstetrical parameters. Methodology: This descriptive study was conducted among 200 pregnant women visiting antenatal OPD or admitted before delivery in the selected hospital. A quantitative non-experimental approach was adopted and a convenient sampling technique was used to select the subjects. The data was collected by using an anxiety scale. The obtained data was analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The results showed that 80% of women had low anxiety whereas 20% had moderate anxiety and anxiety experience was more common among primigravida women. Conclusion: The study concluded that the majority of the women had low anxiety during the childbearing process.