The Effect of relaxation training on the improvement of anxiety and respiratory rate in women undergoing cesarean section

Progressive muscle relaxation technique is a non-invasive, low-cost, and sideeffect-free technique that can be tried independently by individuals. Since the mental and psychological condition of pregnant women is of immense importance, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of relaxation training on improving anxiety and respiratory rate in women undergoing (elective) cesarean section.
This is a semi-experimental study with pre-test/post-test non-equivalent control group designs. The population under study included all 18-35-year-old pregnant women undergoing elective cesarean section who had been referred to Mehr Hospital, the city of Malayer, between October 23 and November 21, 2015. Using non-random voluntary sampling method, 40 individuals from a total of 45 pregnant women were selected and divided into two (control and experimental) groups, each containing 20 women. Beck Anxiety Inventory (1990) and capnograph were deployed to measure research variables in the pre-test. Collected data following eight training sessions on relaxation skills was analyzed using statistical tests such as Shapiro-Wilk, independent t-test, and Mann-Whitney U.
Findings: Results revealed a significant difference between the experimental group and the control group, that is, relaxation training can lead to the improvement of anxiety and respiratory rate in women just before, during, and after C-section surgery.
According to the findings of this study, it is concluded that relaxation can be used to improve the anxiety and respiratory rate of women undergoing C-section surgery in the perioperative period.