A Study on Antenatal Depression in Primigravida Pregnancy Across Trimesters

Abstract

The aim of the study was to assess the maternal anxiety in different trimesters of primigravida pregnancy. This is a cross-sectional, observational study carried out among 30 primigravida women volunteers between 23 and 32 years of age. A total of 30 primigravida subjects were selected randomly from population of Chennai, India. Anxiety level assessed by Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and data obtained were represented as Mean ± SD. Paired “t” test was used for statistical analysis. Among 30 primigravida women, 10 subjects were grouped under each trimester. The mean and SD anxiety scores for first, second and third trimester was 10.50±1.08, 11.20±1.14 and 13.60±1.58, respectively. Paired “t” test revealed significantly higher anxiety scores for third trimester when compared to first trimester scores (t=5.12, p value = 0.0001). This study showed significantly higher maternal anxiety during third trimester of pregnancy.

Keywords: Primigravida, maternal anxiety, pregnancy, trimesters