Effects of Rational Emotional Therapy on Anxiety and Delivery Outcome of Pregnant Women

To explore the impact of rational emotive behavior therapy on the anxiety state and delivery outcomes of anxious primiparous women.

A randomized controlled trial design was employed. Sixty anxious primiparous women admitted between October 2021 and September 2022 were randomly assigned to a study group (n = 30) and a control group (n = 30). The control group received routine prenatal care, while the study group received rational emotive behavior therapy once a week for 12 weeks in addition to routine care. Anxiety levels were assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the duration of labor and mode of delivery were recorded.

After the intervention, the anxiety levels (3.97 ± 0.72 vs 6.27 ± 0.94) and depression levels (3.87 ± 0.86 vs 6.03 ± 0.93) of the mothers in the study group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). Regarding the duration of labor, the first stage of labor (472.83 ± 35.29 min vs 716.17 ± 32.00 min) and the second stage of labor (79.03 ± 33.94 min vs 110.10 ± 31.03 min) in the study group were significantly shorter than those in the control group (P < 0.05), while there was no significant difference in the duration of the third stage of labor between the two groups (P > 0.05). Furthermore, the spontaneous delivery rate in the study group was significantly higher than that in the control group (80.00% vs 26.67%), while the cesarean section rate and forceps delivery rate were significantly lower (P < 0.05).

Rational emotive behavior therapy can effectively alleviate prenatal anxiety in primiparous women, shorten labor, and improve delivery outcomes. This intervention can serve as an effective supplement to prenatal psychological care.