The relationship between husband’s emotional support and anxiety of third trimester pregnant women at Lulu’s independent midwifery practice Surabaya

Abstract

Anxiety during pregnancy arises due to physical and psychological changes in the mother. Anxiety makes emotional conditions unstable. If anxiety persists until the third trimester, it will cause prolonged labor, low birth weight, and premature birth and cause hypertension which leads to preeclampsia. Anxiety in pregnant women can be overcome with husband support. A husband plays a role in providing support to pregnant women. Husband support is one of the important factors obtained by pregnant women, because husbands are the closest people to pregnant women. During pregnancy, the mother has an unstable emotional condition so there is a need for emotional support from her husband. This emotional support includes expressions of empathy, care, and attention. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between husband's emotional support and anxiety of third trimester pregnant women. This study is an observational analytic study using a cross sectional design. Data analysis using Spearman's Rho correlation test. The number of samples that met the inclusion criteria was 52 third trimester pregnant women at Lulu’s Independent Midwifery Practice, Surabaya. Mothers with good husband's emotional support 86,4% were not anxious, while 53,3% of mothers with poor husband's emotional support experienced mild-moderate anxiety. The results of the Spearman's rho correlation test obtained an rs value: 0.468 (p <0.001) which means that there is a significant correlation between husband's emotional support and anxiety of third trimester pregnant women, with moderate correlation strength. Husband's emotional support has a moderate relationship with anxiety of third trimester pregnant women.