Determination of anxiety levels of pregnant women living in rural areas

It is thought that determining the anxiety levels of pregnant women is important both during pregnancy and in the postpartum process of becoming a family or in terms of ensuring the attachment and adaptation of the mother to the baby for the new person who will join the family. This research was carried out to determine the anxiety levels of pregnant women living in the villages of Türkoğlu district of Kahramanmaraş province. According to the week of gestation, between December 2020 and April 2021 at the Family Health Center affiliated to Kahramanmaraş Türkoğlu District Health Directorate, by obtaining the necessary permissions for this descriptive cross-sectional study; this study was conducted with 16th week 80 pregnant women, 22nd week 90 pregnant women and 35th week 60 pregnant women and 230 pregnant women constituted the sample group. Data collection tools consist of "Pregnant Identification Form" and "Cambridge Anxiety Scale (CAS)". The scale can be applied independently according to the gestational week. In the statistical analysis, parametric t-test and analysis of variance were used in independent groups for those with normal distribution, and non-parametric Kruskal Wallis H and Mann Whitney U tests were used for those who were with not normal distribution. The mean CAS scores of all pregnant women at 16th, 22nd and 35th weeks who stated that they had a risky situation in their current pregnancy were found to be statistically significantly higher than those who were at 16th, 22nd and 35th weeks who stated that there was no risky situation in their pregnancy (p<0.05). When we compared the Cambridge Anxiety Scale scores of the pregnant women according to their gestational weeks, it was observed that those who were 16 weeks pregnant were at the score 14.23±08.24, those who were 22 weeks pregnant were 15.62±10.35, those who were 35 weeks pregnant were 15.55±08.93. It was found that the mean CAS score of the pregnants in the 16th and 35th weeks of gestation, whose economic status was expressed as less than their income, were statistically significantly higher than those of the 16th and 35th gestational weeks, whose income was equal to their expenses or less than their expenses (p<0.05). Health professionals should identify the situations that cause anxiety in pregnant women and act sensitively accordingly, and provide training and consultancy services.