Effect of Individual Counseling Program by a Midwife on Anxiety during Pregnancy in Nulliparous Women

Introduction: Anxiety is a common problem among pregnant women, which has a negative impact on mother and neonate. Midwives are responsible for providing advice and giving care to mothers during pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of individual counseling program by a midwife on anxiety during pregnancy in nulliparous women. Materials and Methods: This clinical trial was conducted among 90 primiparous women with the gestational ages of 28 to 30 weeks referred to healthcare centers of Mashhad, Iran, during 2015-2016. The participants were randomly assigned into two groups of intervention and control (45 individuals per group). The subjects in the intervention group received three sessions (once every two weeks) of the individual counseling program based on the content of the consultation model in the Gamble's study, and the control group got routine care. Data were collected using the Beck Anxiety Inventory and demographic characteristics form. The level of anxiety was measured at pre-intervention phase during the gestational ages of 34 to 36 weeks. Data analysis was performed using Chi-squared test and t-test with the help of SPSS software, version 16. P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean scores of anxiety in the intervention and control groups were 6.355±3.960 and 9.822±5.420 during the gestational ages of 34-36 weeks, respectively, which represented a significant difference between the groups (P