Effectiveness of Group Psychological Counseling on the Pregnancy Anxiety and Fear of Vaginal Delivery in the Pregnant Women: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Background: In obstetrics, pregnancy and childbirth are the basis for psychological and biological crises and are associated with a high prevalence of anxiety disorders. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of group psychological counseling on the level of pregnancy anxiety and fear of vaginal delivery in pregnant women. Methods: This Quasi-experimental study was done in 2016 on 96 pregnant women (selected via multistage cluster sampling) that had low to medium levels of anxiety and had an average of 28 or higher fear scores from birth labor. The intervention group treated with 5 sessions of group psychological counseling pre-test and post-test were completed by each of the two groups. Independent and paired t-tests were used for analyzing. Results: Results showed that the psychological counseling could reduce situational and trait anxiety in the intervention group (P < 0.001). Inthecontrolgroup,trait(P=0.007)andsituationalanxiety(P=0.004)wereincreased. Thedifferenceof situationalandtrait anxiety between two groups was significant (P < 0.001). Regarding the fear of childbirth in the intervention group, psychological counseling reduced fear of childbirth significantly (P < 0.001). Fear of childbirth showed a slight increase in the control group, and it difference score in two groups was significant (P < 0.001). Conclusions: According to results, psychological counseling was effective in reducing pregnancy anxiety and fear of childbirth. Therefore, it is recommended that the findings were considered by nurses and other medical staffs to improve the health status of pregnant women. Keywords: Psychology, Pregnancy, Anxiety, Vaginal Delivery