The Influence of a Pregnant Woman’s Social Well-Being on the Quality of Her Life

The quality of a pregnant woman’s life in Russia is usually much lower than in anyEuropean country. Because of this situation it is most important to look for psychologicalresources that could enable pregnant women to have a higher qualityof life. My empirical research showed that pregnant women who are not officiallymarried feel fear and anxiety during their pregnancy more often than those whoare married. There are statistically relevant differences between the control group(the group of officially married pregnant women) and unmarried pregnant womenin their level of comfort during pregnancy. Unmarried pregnant women alsofeel such emotions as guilt, remorse, shame, and shyness more often (these datawere obtained by means of C.E. Izard’s method). Data obtained through a clinicalinterview showed that pregnant women who are not married often feel that theyare not being protected by society, have financial problems, and experience painduring the delivery of the child. They also feel guilt when they think of bringingup their children (“I won’t be able to give my child all those things that I couldpossibly give him or her if I were married”); and they are quite often ashamed oftheir pregnancy when they communicate with their parents and other relativesand with their friends, acquaintances, and doctors. The research showed no directinfluence of such factors as the material wealth of a pregnant woman’s family onher emotional state. The number of children that women expect to have dependson their level of education but not on the level of the material wealth of theirfamilies.