Job related factors and fatigue in third trimester of pregnancy in employed women

Background and Fatigue is one of the common complaints in the pregnancy. It can occurr due to imbalance of body energy and physiologic changes, in pregnancy that may have adverse effects on pregnancy out come. Although, the employment in a job leads to the mental health of pregnant women, there is no agreement on it’s physical effects in pregnancy. The objective of this study was to determine the fatigue intensity in the third trimester of pregnancy in employed and unemployed women refered to health centers in Mashad in 2001. In this cross – sectional research, 100 employed and 300 unemployed pregnant women that had research include criteria,were selected by a multi-stages sampling method. The instrument of research included DASS21 criterion, fatigue intensity and a questionair on individual characteristics wich were completed by interviewing the pregnant women in a private session. Data analysis was done by Chi-square and student t tests, one – way analysis of variance and general linear models by utilizing SPSS software. There was a significant difference in fatigue intensity between two groups in third trimester of pregnancy (p<.0001) the rate of excessive fatigue was 15% in employed and 1.3% in unemployed women. Also, mean of fatigue scores was 55.3±13 in employed and 46±8.7 in unemployed groups. Sleep satisfaction (p=. 0001), socio-economical class (p=.026), regular sport activities (p=.002), helping in house works (p=.001),and employment (p.0001)were having significant relationship with fatigue. Work hours per week (p=.0001) and duration of standing and walking in a day (p=.015)in employees were in related to fatigue intensity. Employed pregnant women experience more fatigue than unemployed ones. Facilities and labor rules should be developed to help pregnant women to avoid fatigue in order to prevent it’s adverse effects and improve the quality of pregnant women health.