Examining the Effect of Attending Childbirth Preparation Classes on Prepartum and Postpartum Maternal Mental Well-being Index

Childbirth preparation classes are planned to make the delivery more pleasant and reduce the number of cesarean sections. This study aimed to examine the effect of attending childbirth preparation classes on prepartum and postpartum maternal mental well-being.

This single-blind clinical trial was conducted in Sabzevar healthcare centers. 120 nulliparous women were selected in 2017, applying a convenience sampling method, and randomly divided into two equal groups, intervention and control. The intervention group (at 20 weeks to 38 weeks of gestation) participated in 8, 90-minute sessions of the childbirth preparation classes; however, the control group only received the routine prenatal care. Before and after the intervention and 14 days after the delivery, the maternal mental well-being questionnaire was completed by the mothers and then analyzed by the repeated-measures ANOVA.

Results showed that the mean score of the intervention group’s maternal mental well-being index (73.7±1.8) was significantly higher than that of the control group (65.5±2.1) (P<0.001). Moreover, the trend of changes in the scores of this index was different in the two groups and did not change in the intervention group from pretest to posttest and follow-up, while it decreased in the control group (P<0.048).

Although maternal mental well-being reduces in the second half of pregnancy until after giving birth, attending childbirth preparation classes stabilizes prepartum and postpartum maternal mental well-being.