The effect of antepartum symptoms experienced by high-risk pregnant women to pregnancy compliance

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of antepartum symptoms experienced by high-risk pregnant women to pregnancy compliance. This research was conducted at Adnan Menderes University Research and Application Hospital Maternity outpatient clinic between January 2013 - September 2015 as a comparative-descriptive study. A total of 192 pregnant women were assigned as the study sample which included 64 high-risk pregnancies and 128 normal pregnant women as the control group. Pregnant women included in the study were selected randomly among the ones who applied to the clinic. The data for this research were collected by the use of "Pregnant Identification Form", "Antepartum Symptom Checklist" and "Prenatal Self Evaluation Questionnaire (PSEQ)". In the evaluation of the data, descriptive statistics, X2, t test and Mann-Whitney U test were used. The mean age of high-risk pregnant women participated in the study was 28.64 ± 5.41 while the mean age of pregnant women in the control group was found as 26.98 ± 5.18. It was found that the mean age of high-risk pregnant women was significantly higher than the average age of pregnants in the control group. When high-risk and control groups were compared in terms of family type, education, income, work, social security conditions, and spouse's age, education, employment status and obstetric characteristics, the groups were found to be statistically similar. When antepartum physical problems experienced usually by pregnant women were assessed; high-risk pregnant women suffered from sleep changes, fatigue, pelvic / groin pain, back pain, shortness of breath and leg pain, while pregnants in the control group experienced sleep changes, back pain, pain in legs, pelvic / groin pain, fatigue, and nausea problems. In our research, antepartum psychological problems of high risk pregnants and control group pregnant women were determined likewise as nervousness, strain and boredom in both groups. When antepartum symptoms experienced by pregnant women both in high risk and control groups were compared, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups. For pregnant women with high risk pregnancies PSEQ average total score was determined as 139.95 ± 20.30, while the average score was 141.71 ± 24.06 for the control group, hence these results were evaluated as positive pregnancy compliance for both groups. When scores of the groups obtained from PSEQ and subscales were compared, it was determined that there was no statistically significant difference. When PSEQ total score averages according to antepartum symptoms experienced by pregnants both in high-risk and control groups were compared, pregnancy compliances of women who suffered from varicosis and difficulty in walking were found more positive than women who experienced the same problems in the control group. In conclusion, high-risk pregnant women experience antepartum symptoms similar to other pregnants and high-risk pregnancy does not affect their compliance. It can be stated as a result of this study that antepartum symptoms of high-risk pregnant women have no effect on pregnancy compliance. Keywords: High-risk pregnancy, pregnancy, antepartum symptoms, pregnancy compliance, midwifery care.