Relationship between Self-Care in Pregnancy with Perceived Social Support and Stress among Pregnant Women in 29 Bahman Hospital in Tabriz

Although pregnancy and giving birth are natural occurrences in the women’s lives, they are stressful experiences with emotional, physical and social changes. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between self-care in pregnancy with social support and perceived stress among pregnant women. This cross-sectional, comparative-descriptive study was conducted with participation of 400 pregnant women referred to the midwifery clinic of 29 Bahman Hospital in the city of Tabriz in 2017. Convenience sampling method was used for participants’ selection. Data were collected using a 4-part questionnaire including social demographic characteristics and midwifery history, pregnancy self- care, perceived social support and stress. Data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 21) by descriptive statistics as well as Pearson correlation coefficients and p<0.05 was considered significant. The mean (SD) age of participants was 29.5 (2.6). The mean (SD) score of self-care was 43.4 (5.1), perceived social support 67.3 (12.2), and perceived stress 37 (7.2). Increased perceived social support during pregnancy increased self-care among pregnant women (P=0.001). In addition, increased perceived stress decreaseed self- care during pregnancy (P=0.001). The study showed that increased perceived social support during pregnancy increased self-care among pregnant women. In addition, increased perceived stress decreaseed self- care during pregnancy.