Stress and Coping Mechanism Adopted by Primigravida Women Attending OPD at Maternity Hospital, Jammu and Kashmir

Background: Stress is common during pregnancy. But too much of stress can make pregnant women uncomfortable. Some types of stress may cause serious health problems, like high blood pressure, and lead to problems like premature. The more an individual adopts coping strategies, the less his or her stress, the better his or her mental health. The present study aimed to assess the level of stress and coping mechanism adopted by primigravida women. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to assess the level of stress and coping mechanism adopted by the primigravida women, find the association of their stress and coping mechanism with selected demographic variables. Methodology: A quantitative research approach with descriptive design was used. 100 primigravida women were selected by non-probability purposive sampling. Assessment of stress and coping mechanism was done by using a modified -structured PSS checklist and coping checklist respectively. Results: Findings of the present study showed that majority of the study subjects (81%) had mild level of stress whereas, 17% of study subjects had moderate level of stress and very few (2%) had severe level of stress. Maximum of study subjects (60%) had average coping whereas, 38% had good coping and very few (2%) had poor coping. The (Mean±SD) for stress and coping mechanism of study subjects was 7.04±2.93 and 24.42±2.59 respectively. Conclusion: Majority of the study subjects had mild level of stress during pregnancy. Findings also revealed that maximum of the study subjects had average coping which indicates they needed to be taught about the various coping strategies.