%0 Journal Article
%T A multidisciplinary program of preparation for childbirth and motherhood: maternal anxiety and perinatal outcomes
%A Elenice B Consonni
%A Iracema MP Calderon
%A Marcos Consonni
%A Marta HS De Conti
%A Tania TS Prevedel
%A Marilza VC Rudge
%J Reproductive Health
%D 2010
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1742-4755-7-28
%X This is a not randomized controlled trial on 67 nulliparous pregnant women divided into two groups according to participation (MPCM Group; n = 38) or not (Control Group; n = 29) in MPCM. The program consisted of 10 meetings (between the 18th and the 38th gestational week) during which educational, physiotherapeutic and interaction activities were developed. Anxiety was quantified at the beginning and at the end of the gestational period by the Trace-State Anxiety Inventory (STAI).Initial maternal anxiety was equivalent between the groups. At the end of the gestational period, it was observed that anxiety levels increased in the Control Group and were maintained in the MPCM Group. A higher occurrence of vaginal deliveries (83.8%) and hospital discharge of three-day-older newborns (81.6%) as a result of MPCM was also significant. Levels of state-anxiety at the end of pregnancy showed a negative correlation with vaginal delivery, gestational age, birth weight and Apgar index at the first minute and positive correlation with the hospital period remaining of the newborns.In the study conditions, MPCM was associated with lower levels of maternal anxiety, a larger number of vaginal deliveries and shorter hospitalization time of newborns. It was not related to adverse perinatal outcomes.The pregnancy experience can be seen as a major occurrence in women's global development. It is an extremely significant transition moment which causes deep physical and emotional changes, thus requiring numerous adaptations [1-4]. As much as a woman has desired to become a mother, the fulfillment of such desire may not bring the expected feelings for her new role of a pregnant woman or of a mother.Maldonado [1] refers to pregnancy as one of the "crisis" or transition periods in a woman's normal development process, similarly to adolescence and climacterium. Any of these phases involves the need for restructuration and readjustment in various realms: biochemical, psychological, and socioecon
%U http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/content/7/1/28