The Effect of Psychoeducation on Anxiety in Subsequent Pregnancy Following Stillbirth: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Objective: We aimed to determine the effect of psychoeducation on women's anxiety in subsequent pregnancy following stillbirth. Materials and methods: This two-arm, semi-experimental study was conducted on 100 women with subsequent pregnancy after stillbirth who visited the healthcare centers affiliated to a university of medical sciences in southeast of Iran in 2017. The eligible women were selected by using the convenience sampling method and were randomly divided into the intervention and control groups. The intervention group attended four psychoeducation sessions during four weeks according to the determined content. On the other hand, the control group received the routine care education. After eight weeks, data were collected using Pregnancy Related Anxiety Questionnaire (PRAQ). To analyze the data, independent t-test, Paired t-test and Chi-square U test, were run in SPSS, version 21. Results: No significant differences were observed between the study groups in terms of demographic characteristics (p > 0.05). Although the mean score of anxiety was not significantly different in the intervention and control groups prior to the psychoeducation sessions (p = 0.83), it was significantly lower in the intervention group after the psychoeducation intervention, compared to the control group (50.64 ± 20.05 vs. 63.54 ± 22.90; p = 0.0001). Conclusion: Psychoeducation intervention could diminish anxiety in women with subsequent pregnancy after stillbirth. Therefore, we recommend incorporating the components of psychoeducation related to the special needs of this group of women as a part of the routine prenatal care and educating healthcare providers to use these interventions.