Effect of Instructional Guidelines Regarding Minor Discomforts on Reducing Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Level among Primigravida

Abstract

Hormonal changes during pregnancy lead to minor discomforts in all the women s body as nausea, \nvomiting, constipation, excessive urination, and fatigue cause anxiety for them. Most of their \ndiscomforts can be managed by self-care measures or healthful practices ones can do. Aim: This \nstudy aimed to evaluate the effect of instructional guidelines regarding minor discomforts on \nreducing depression, anxiety, and stress level among primigravida. Subjects and method: Study \ndesign: A quasi-experimental research design was used on a convenient sample of 150 pregnant \nwomen from a population of through 386 women in six-months, from June 2019, until December \n2019, who attended at the antenatal clinic at Sohag University Hospital, Egypt. Tools of data \ncollection: Two tools were utilized to collect the data in this study: (1) A self-administered \nquestionnaire, (2) Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS). Results: The present study \nrevealed that there were statistically significant differences between primigravida pregnant women s \nknowledge about minor discomforts and their anxiety levels before and after the implementation of \nthe instructional guideline. Also, pregnant women s anxiety was severe before the implementation \nof the guideline while these levels become low after guideline implementation. Conclusion: The \ninstructional guidelines were effective in minimizing primigravida pregnant women s anxiety \nregarding minor discomforts and rising their knowledge about minor discomforts after \nimplementation of the instructional guideline. Recommendations: health educational programs \nabout minor discomforts and their self-care practices should be taught to all pregnant women and \npsychological support to help them to cope and become more resilient during their pregnancy about \nminor discomforts.