Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction on Anxiety in Pregnant Women

Pregnancy is often associated with various psychological problems, such as anxiety. However, these problems are often overlooked and not treated. This study aimed to determine the effect of mindfulness-based stress reduction (BMSR) on anxiety in pregnant women in Sanandaj, Iran.

This semi-experimental research had a pretest-posttest design and control group. In total, 500 pregnant mothers referred to clinics and delivery ward of Besat Hospital in Sanandaj were selected by convenience sampling. After completing the Spielberger Anxiety Inventory, 250 individuals with a high anxiety level were detected, 50 of whom were selected and randomly divided into intervention and control groups. The intervention group participated in eight MBSR teaching sessions, whereas the subjects in the control group received no treatment. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 22 using independent and paired t-tests.

In this study, 35% of the participants had an MSc and 40% had a diploma. In addition, 90% of the subjects were housewives, and the mean age at marriage was 24.4+60.95 years. Moreover, 77.5% had the intention to choose natural delivery. According to the results, obvious and hidden anxiety was reported at a moderate-to-high level in 50% of the cases. Furthermore, the mean obvious anxiety changed from 45.9 to 49.8 (P>0.05) and from 46.9 to 37.8 (P<0.05) in the control and intervention groups, respectively. On the other hand, hidden anxiety changed from 42.9 to 47.8 (P>0.05) and from 44.9 to 38.8 (P>0.05) in the control and intervention groups, respectively. While the intervention was significantly effective in terms of reduced obvious anxiety, there is insignificant reduction in hidden anxiety in the participants.

Given the effectiveness of MBSR on anxiety of pregnant mothers, this method can be used to reduce anxiety in these individuals.