INTRODUCTION
Anxiety is a response to an unclear and ambiguous threat—an unpleasant feeling of apprehension and distressing fear anticipating an unspecified danger. Marx and Marx and leader, through a review of 22 studies in this field, estimated that approximately 3% of the general population experiences anxiety disorders (Moghadamipour, 1401).
Elevated anxiety levels during pregnancy not only increase the risk of depression, anxiety, and reduced milk production and secretion during the postpartum period but also lead to irritability, excessive crying, unstable conditions, and even impaired mental development in children by the age of two (Bowers et al., 2001). Other complications of such anxiety states may include preterm birth, low birth weight, and low Apgar scores at delivery. Moreover, the combination of depression and anxiety has been indicated to exert the most significant effect on the likelihood of preterm birth, far exceeding the impact of depression alone (Feld et al., 2010).
METHODS
The present quasi-experimental study employed a pretest-posttest design with a control group and a one-month follow-up period. The statistical population consisted of all pregnant women in Neyshabur City, Iran, who visited healthcare centers during the last three months of 2024. A sample of 45 participants was selected via convenience sampling and, after providing informed consent, was divided into two experimental groups and one control group (15 individuals per group).
Inclusion criteria involved informed consent, Iranian nationality and residency in Neyshabur, first-time pregnancy, maternal age between 18 and 30 years, singleton pregnancy, gestational age of 20–28 weeks, literacy, ability to perform 20 minutes of daily exercise, absence of congenital or genetic disorders, no acute psychiatric conditions, and no use of psychotropic medications. In addition, exclusion criteria involved pregnancy-related complications (history of miscarriage, bleeding, placenta previa, eclampsia), concurrent or prior use of yoga, psychotherapy, Pilates, meditation, etc., and history of stimulant or psychotropic drug use (e.g., sedatives, anxiolytics). Additionally, pregnant women with medical conditions or pregnancy disorders (severe acute/chronic illnesses harming the pregnancy), risk of preterm birth, confirmed fetal abnormalities, maternal cognitive/motor impairments, or absence from more than one session, non-completion of >10% of therapeutic tasks, exposure to distressing events (e.g., bereavement, family conflicts, migration), or non-compliance with questionnaire completion at pretest, posttest, or follow-up stages were excluded.
The intervention groups received Jacobson’s Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) therapy (4 sessions) and Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) therapy (eight sessions, 90 minutes each, twice weekly). Data were collected using the Vandenberg Pregnancy Anxiety Scale and analyzed via repeated-measures ANOVA.
RESULTS
The results indicated a significant difference between experimental and control groups; both therapies reduced pregnancy-related anxiety scores in primiparous women (p<0.05). Furthermore, MBSR demonstrated superior efficacy compared to PMR in alleviating pregnancy-related anxiety (p<0.05).