[Prenatal stimulation: results in the peripartum period]

During pregnancy, the prolonged stress and worry felt by mothers can alter the development and function of the right brain hemisphere. For this reason, importance is given to prenatal stimulation programs for pregnant women.

To determine the perinatal results in the moment of childbirth in mothers who had participated in prenatal stimulation programs.

An experimental study was conducted in five health districts in the town of Cienfuegos (Cuba) with a view to identifying the perinatal results at the moment of childbirth in women that had participated in prenatal stimulation programs.

The study consisted of an intentional sampling of all of the subjects (n = 200 women who were 20-28 weeks pregnant). The variables studied were the following: duration of labor, baby's birth weight, Apgar score at birth, type of childbirth, and opinion of the subjects about the prenatal stimulation program.

Of the population sample, 36% of the subjects gave birth in less than six hours; 67.5% had babies weighing 2,500-3,000 grams; and 96.5% had babies whose Apgar scores were between 8 and 9. Finally, 68.5% of the subjects had natural childbirths and 96% were satisfied with the prenatal stimulation program.

The results obtained showed that these new prenatal stimulation programs were well received by the subjects in this study.