The Effect of Educational Intervention Based on Self-efficacy Theory on Pregnancy Anxiety and Childbirth Outcomes Among Iranian Primiparous Women

Overview

Journal J Educ Health Promot

Specialty Medical Education

Date 2022 Mar 14

PMID 35281377

Authors

Narges Gandomi

Gholamreza Sharifzadeh

Marzieh Torshizi

Ensiyeh Norozi

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Pregnancy anxiety is associated with a diverse birth outcomes. Mothers' education could have a critical role in increasing their self-efficacy to defeat their anxiety and improve pregnancy and child birth outcomes. The study was conducted to examine the effect of intervention based on self-efficacy theory on pregnancy anxiety and child birth outcomes.

Materials And Methods: The study was conducted as a quasi-experimental design on 60primiparous women (26-28 weeks) in Birjand (East Iranian province) from May to September 2017, who were randomly divided into intervention and control groups. The intervention group received 8 sessions of 90-min educational intervention based on self-efficacy theory strategies besides the routine prenatal care. Vanden Bergh's pregnancy anxiety questionnaire and checklist of pregnancy and delivery outcomes were used for data collection.

Results: The level of pregnancy anxiety was similar in both groups before the intervention, but immediately and 1 month after the intervention, the mean score of pregnancy anxiety significantly reduced in the intervention group and significantly increased in the control group ( < 0.001). There was a significant difference in mean neonatal weight ( < 0.001) between the two groups. Emergency and elective cesarean section were significantly lower in the intervention group compared to the control group ( < 0.001), but there were no significant differences in the frequency of preterm delivery between two groups ( < 0.05).

Conclusion: The results provide support for the effectiveness of intervention based on self-efficacy theory in reducing pregnancy anxiety and enhancing positive pregnancy outcomes. Hence, theory-based educational interventions may serve as a cost-effective and noninvasive approach to reduce pregnancy anxiety in Iran.

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