The effect of family-centered and individual-centered Empowerment Program on Sleep Quality and Mental Health of prim parous women: A clinical trial study

The postpartum period is accompanied by rapid physiological changes that expose mothers to sleep pattern disturbances and threaten the health of mothers and their infants. In order to maintain and improve mental health and sleep quality in this era, it is necessary to empower mothers with a suitable model. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate and compare the effects of family-centered and individual-centered empowerment programs on the sleep quality and mental health of primiparous women in the postpartum period.

This randomized clinical trial study was conducted on two groups, from late 2019 to June 2020. After sampling using the convenience method, 86 women were randomly assigned to either the family-centered or individual-centered group. The research tools included a demographic information questionnaire, a questionnaire on personal and environmental factors affecting fatigue and sleep, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and the General Health Questionnaire. In the family-centered group, the empowerment program was implemented based on the four-stage model of perceived threat, self-efficacy enhancement, self-esteem, and assessment of quality of life components for primiparous mothers in the postpartum period, along with their spouse and infant. However, in the individual-centered group, the mothers were the only ones undergoing the intervention. In the three stages prior to the intervention and one month after the intervention, sleep quality and mental health questionnaires were completed by the research units. Finally, the data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistical tests, including the Mann-Whitney, Friedman, Wilcoxon, and Smirnov-Kolmogorov tests, using SPSS-21 software due to the non-normal distribution of the data.

The results of the study showed that the sleep quality score and mental health score of primiparous women after delivery in the two family-centered and individual-centered empowerment groups did not show any significant statistical differences before and immediately after the intervention(P>0.05). However, one month after the intervention, in the family-centered group, both research variables had significantly improved (P<0.05).

Postpartum empowerment of primparous women using family-centered and individual-centered patterns lead to improvements in their sleep quality and mental health. Empowerment with family support plays a more effective role. Therefore, empowerment programs should be implemented with the support of spouses and key family members during pregnancy and continued in postpartum care