Comparing the Influence of Integrated and Group Counseling on Childbearing Attitudes in Women on the Verge of Marriage

Premarital counseling is the best opportunity to provide childbirth counseling for young people on the verge of marriage. Given the lack of data on the most effective way to deliver such information during this period, the present study aimed to compare the effects of integrated and group counseling on the attitude towards childbearing in women on the verge of marriage.

This experimental study was carried out on 162 women receiving premarital counseling in the healthcare centers of Mashhad, Iran, during 2015-2016. The subjects were divided into three groups, who received the integrated, group, and routine counseling services. The integrated group received two sessions of group and one session of individual counseling. The group counseling received three sessions of 2-h counseling with one week interval. The control group received only the routine counseling. Data were collected using a demographic and childbirth attitude questionnaire and analyzed using one-way ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis, paired sample t-test, and Wilcoxon tests.

After the intervention, the attitude towards childbearing underwent a significant change in participants of integrated (P<0.001) and group (P=0.03) counseling, compared to that of the control group. However, there was no significant difference between two intervention groups in terms of their attitude.

Both integrated and group counseling methods are recommended for providing a favorable attitude towards childbearing in young people. Therefore, enough time must be spent on childbearing counseling for women on the verge of marriage attending premarital counseling clinics.