EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EMPOWERMENT-BASED EDUCATION ON EMPOWER- MENT AND ANXIETY IN NULLIPAROUS WOMEN

Background: Anxiety is the most common mental disorder during pregnancy which increases the risk of maternal postpartum depression and anxiety. According to investigations, pregnant women hypothesized that anxiety is a common factor that will improve spontaneously; they are not aware of its side effects on the fetus, baby, and pregnancy outcome, as a whole. Therefore, creating the opportunities of independence through interacting with environment and other people and gaining sustainable mental energy can empower this defect and turn pregnancy into something pleasant. As a result, present study was carried out to evaluate the effective- ness of empowerment-based education on empowerment and anxiety in nulliparous women.

Methods: This clinical trial survey was performed on 70 nulliparous women of 20-24 weeks. Subjects were divided into two control and experimental groups of 35 members through random sampling. Both groups completed the demographic questionnaire, Pregnant Women Empowerment questionnaire, and Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) before intervention. Pregnant Women Empowerment questionnaire and Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was completed again immediately and eight weeks after intervention by both groups. Data were analyzed by t test and Fisher’s exact test through SPSS version 16. Significance level of 0.05 was considered.

Results: The results showed that the mean and standard deviation of anxiety in two groups of experimental and control before intervention were 16.78±90.91 and 16.29±89.14 which implies no significant difference (P>0.05); however, post-intervention data analysis immediately and eight weeks after intervention showed a significant difference between two groups (P<0001). Mean and standard deviation of empowerment before the intervention in control and experimental groups, respectively, were 6.83±74.77 and 7.76±76.80 in which no statistically significant difference between two groups was observed (P>0.05); however, post-intervention data analysis immediately and eight weeks after intervention showed a significant difference between two groups. (P<0001)

Conclusion: Empowerment-based education reduces the level of anxiety and increases empowerment of women during pre- gnancy; since this method is cheap, simple, and risk-free, it is highly recommended for nulliparous women.