A Comparative Study To Assess The Anxiety Related To Pregnancy And Delivery Of The Baby Among Primigravida Mothers In Selected Rural And Urban Areas Of Maharashtra

Primigravida mothers are those who conceived for the first time. There are many changes occur during the pregnancy that make them very stressful. And respond to this stress by feeling anxious which may be influenced on the woman herself and her baby. As anxiety and fear of childbirth may cause many complications such as severe labor pain, postpartum depression, and impaired mother–fetus attachment. Many studies support the hypothesis that pregnancy-related anxiety is strongly linked to postpartum depression, preterm births, low birth weight, fetal growth restriction, pregnancy complications, and negative infant outcomes. Purpose: Comparative study to assess the levels anxiety among rural and urban primigravida mothers planned for normal vaginal delivery and caesarean section.Methods: The levels of anxiety assessed by using 17 items self-structured anxiety assessment tool related to pregnancy and delivery of the baby. Data was collected from 60 samples, in that 30 from rural and 30 from urban. Data was analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics Result: Rural mother result shows that 63.33% of them have moderate level and 36.67% mothers have severe level of anxiety. Average anxiety score of mothers in selected rural areas was 31.93 with standard deviation of 4.54 and in urban area 3.33% mother have mild anxiety, 93.33% of them have moderate level and 3.33% mother have severe level of anxiety. The average anxiety score among primigravida mothers in selected rural areas was 31.93 with standard deviation of 4.54. The average anxiety score among primigravida mothers in selected urban areas was 25.63 with standard deviation of 4.03. The test statistics value of unpaired t test was 5.68 with p value 0.00. The p value less than 0.05, hence reject null hypothesis and accept alternative hypothesis. It shows, significant difference in levels of anxiety towards pregnancy and delivery of baby among primigravida mothers in selected rural and urban areas of Maharashtra.Conclusion: This study concluded that rural primigravida mothers having more anxiety than the urban primigravida mothers related to pregnancy and delivery of the baby.