Psychological impact of Pregnancy and Health-Seeking Behaviours among Women Attending Antenatal Clinic at Southwest Hospital, Nigeria
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Abstract
Background: Pregnancy can significantly affect a woman's mental health due to a combination of hormonal, emotional, and social changes. The study assessed the psychological impact of pregnancy on women attending Antenatal Clinics in a Southwest Hospital, Nigeria.
Method: Descriptive cross-sectional design was adopted, involving 166 pregnant women selected but 160 were valid for analysis. Through purposive and simple random sampling techniques. Data were collected using an adopted questionnaire and were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Inferential statistics were conducted using Chi-square tests to examined significant relationships among categorical variables with p-value <0.05 considered statistically significant.
Results: Findings revealed that participants reported experienced pregnancy loss/complications due to stress 13(8.1%), anxious 81(50.6%), worry 53(33.1%), and depressed 28(17.5%). Health-seeking behaviors were high, with 71 (44.4%) of participants indicated they had practical support during pregnancy. Worth of noting, nearly all, 147(91.9%), of them established that they did not have access to mental health care. Participants revealed that they frequently experience sudden extreme fear/discomfort (mean=2.60), difficulty sleeping even when they had chance to sleep (9mean=2.70) followed by difficulty adjusting to recent changes (Mean=2.70) were perceived as mental health problems that affected QoL. Significant connections were identified between problem with drugs/kola-nut among the pregnant women and their quality of life (P < 0.05),
Conclusion: based on the findings of the study it was concluded that mental health problems significantly affect the quality of life during pregnancy. The study recommend that mental health screenings should be integrated into antenatal care.
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