Determination of the Effect of Narrative writing on Maternal Depression, Anxiety and Stress in women referring to Prenatal care units of Tehran University Of Medical Sciences

Determine the impact of narrative writing on stress, anxiety and depression on pregnant women who reffer to prenatal care of Tehran medical health centers

At first, to determine the sample size, a pilot study was performed on 30 pregnant women who had entered the study at the South University Health Center in Tehran. A sample size of 120 cases was calculated for both groups. Sample will be collected from pregnant women referring to the South Tehran Medical Health Centers. In each center, mothers who come to the clinic on Saturday, Monday, or Wednesday will be in the control group in the intervention group and mothers who visit on Sunday, Tuesday or Thursday.

This study is a quasi-experimental trial that will be conducted in two groups of intervention and control. The researcher will visit the prenatal care Units of the health centers of Tehran University of Medical Sciences every other week. Participant’s eligibility for inclusion criteria will be checked by a researcher-made questionnaire. Individuals will be screened for depression using a Beck Depression Scale, and if they score between 17 and 10, they will complete the DASS 21 questionnaire and will enter the study if they get acceptable score.

Inclusion criteria: Pregnant women with gestational age between 25 and 28 weeks. age between 18 and 45 years old. Having literacy and ability to read and write. Not taking drugs that cause depression (such as Anti-epileptic drugs, Anti hypertensive drugs, Corticosteroids, Digoxin, Diuretics, Potent tranquilizers, Anti-Parkinson agents). Singleton pregnancy. Being Primiparous. Having a telephone number. Wanted pregnancy. Earning score of 10-17 (mild depression) from Beck Depression questionnaire mild depression, mild to medium anxiety, mild to medium stress from DASS21 questionnaire. Exclusion criteria: Change of location. Stressful events during the study (Death of a close Relative, spouse, newborn, economic problems, marital problems and divorce). Intrauterine Fetal Death in current pregnancy. preterm laber. Death of mother. Unwillingness to continue the study for any reason. Narrative writing less than twice a week. Having chronic illness. Having diseases that cause depression (such as Epilepsy, Migraine, Multiple Sclerosis). Taking psychotropic drugs (Opium, Crack, Heroin, Cigarette). Fetal Anomaly in current oregnancy. Abortion history.

The mothers of the intervention group will be given a protocol and they will be asked to write in accordance with this instruction. This protocol is based on PanBaker's model. According to it, mothers are required to write twice a week or two about their deep thoughts and feelings about pregnancy, fetuse and issues that cause their anxiety and joy during this period. It is important that they really write about their deepest thoughts and feelings on paper and not worry about grammar or spelling of words. Mothers are advised to perform narration in a relaxed environment and can do the narration at any time they want. The only law in writing narratives is that they continue to write for 20 to 15 minutes when they start writing. The mothers receive the routine care control group.

Stress; anxiety; depression