The Effect of a Training Package and Group Consultation on Pregnancy-Specific Stress

Women are faced with numerous stresses during their lives. This study examined the effect of two approaches on pregnancy-specific stress, including a training package and a group consultation approach.

Using a parallel design, this randomized controlled trial was conducted in 3 phases, on 70 pregnant women who visited the selected medical centers in Alborz province in Iran during 2016. Eligible mothers were selected through the convenience sampling method and then were divided into intervention and control groups in random blocks of four. The control group was provided with routine pregnancy care and the training package on how to cope with pregnancy stress. In addition, the intervention group received the routine pregnancy care plus cognitive-behavioral consultation in six 90-minute sessions. The mothers in both groups were evaluated at baseline, at the end of the sessions, and three weeks later using the Pregnancy Worries and Stress Questionnaire (PWSQ).

According to the obtained results, the 2 groups differed significantly in terms of the total score and the score of each dimension of the PWSQ except for the personal-occupational dimension. A comparison of the groups showed that the mean scores of the intervention group followed a decreasing trend in all three phases. However, the total score and the mean scores of all dimensions increased in the control group except for the mother-newborn bonding dimension (P<0.05).

The presence of a consultant and the practice of cognitive-behavioral consultation could further reduce pregnancy-specific stress and worries compared to the training package.