Journal of midwifery & women's health
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J Midwifery Womens Health · Jul 2005
Randomized Controlled TrialA randomized controlled trial of the effects of applied relaxation training on reducing anxiety and perceived stress in pregnant women.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of applied relaxation training on reducing anxiety and perceived stress among pregnant women. A randomized controlled trial with a prospective pretest-posttest experimental design was used. One hundred ten primigravid women (mean age = 23.8 years) in their second trimester (mean of gestational age = 17.8 weeks) were randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. ⋯ There were significant reductions in state/trait anxiety and perceived stress for the experimental group compared with the control group after the intervention. The findings suggest beneficial effects of relaxation on reducing anxiety and perceived stress in pregnant women. Teaching relaxation techniques could serve as a resource for improving maternal psychological health.