Perceived Social Support, Quality of Life, and Anxiety of Child Birth among Primigravida Women

Background : Anxiety about childbirth among primigravida women has a negative effect on the quality of life of pregnant women. Perceived social support plays a vital role in improving the psychological well-being of pregnant women by enhancing women's ability to cope with stressful situations. Purpose : To assess perceived social support, quality of life, and anxiety about childbirth among primigravida women. Design : cross-sectional research Sample : A purposeful sample consisting of 74 pregnant women Setting : Outpatient maternity clinics at El-Manial Hospital, Cairo University. Tools : Sociodemographic Data Sheet, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Pregnant Women's Anxiety of Childbirth Questionnaire, Quality of Life Questionnaire Results : The mean age of the study sample was M±SD=21.9±3.7 years, less than half (48.6%) had secondary education, while few (5.4%) of them were illiterate. The majority were housewives (73.0%), reported a low income (81.1%(and living in rural areas ( 55.4 %). Regarding the correlation matrix of the studied variables, there are highly negative significant correlations between perceived social support and anxiety of childbirth among the primigravida women at (r = - 0.41 and p= 0.00*) and there is a highly significant correlation between perceived social support and quality of life at (r= 0.34 and p= 0.002*). While there is no significant correlation between anxiety about childbirth and quality of life among primigravida women. Conclusion : The majority of the studied sample had a moderate level of perceived social support and quality of life. All of the studied samples had a high level of anxiety about childbirth. There were highly negative and significant correlations between perceived social support and anxiety about childbirth among primigravida women, and there is a highly significant correlation between perceived social support and quality of life. Recommendation : Establish educational centers and hotlines for increasing family awareness about the importance of social support and quality of life for pregnant women