Prevalence of Pregnancy Related Anxiety in Pregnant Women in Southern Fringes of Pune, India

Abstract

Pregnancy is an important period of women’s life. It is not only a period of great joy, but also one of great stress to a woman both physically and mentally. There are hormonal, physical as well as psychological changes. The Anxiety and depressive symptoms are common during pregnancy. Up to one-third of women may experience anxiety symptoms during pregnancy. Pregnant women worry about the upcoming labor and anticipated pain, also referred to as fear of childbirth or they may be concerned about the health of the child they are carrying or the physical changes they experience. Objective: To find out the Prevalence of Pregnancy related anxiety in pregnant women by using Pregnancy Related Anxiety questionnaire (PRAQ-R2). Design: An observational study was conducted among 70 low-risk Indian pregnant women of age 20–35 years. Setting: A public health care hospital in southern fringes of Pune, India. Participants: 70 low risk pregnant women who attended the hospital were selected as convenient sample. Methods: Participants were recruited as per the selection criteria Pregnancy-Related Anxiety Questionnaire–Revised were used to collect the data. Results: 78.57% pregnant women had Pregnancy related Anxiety. 33 %pregnant women had mild Anxiety while 32 % women had moderate and 5% were suffering from severe Anxiety. Considering the component of anxiety 74.3% women had fear of giving birth, 77.1 % worries about bearing a handicap child, 74.3% women were concern about own appearance. Conclusion: During the joyful phase of pregnancy there is higher prevalence of pregnancy related anxiety. Key words: Pregnancy, Pregnancy Related Anxiety Questionnaire (PRAQ-R2).