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Stress and anxiety in relation to amniocentesis: do women who perceive their partners to be more involved in pregnancy feel less stressed and anxious?

Aim. To assess whether imminent amniocentesis is associated with an elevated perception of stress and state anxiety in both women and their partners, and to explore whether greater partner involvement during pregnancy could alleviate women’s stress and anxiety. Methods. Two hundred twenty women undergoing amniocentesis and 90 male partners participated in the study. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Perceived Stress Scale, and Partner’s Involvement in Pregnancy Scale were administered. Statistical analysis was performed using t-test, one way ANOVA, and Pearson’s correlation. Results. The imminence of amniocentesis causes elevated stress (17.6±6.8 ; t=7.32, p=0.000) and anxiety (42.0±11.9 ; t=8.51, p=0.000) in pregnant women, but not their partners (for stress 14.3±6.1 ; t=0.17, p=0.862, and for anxiety 36.4±10.40 ; t=0.66, p=0.510). Women’s stress was even more pronounced in those who experienced another stressor like unplanned pregnancy, prenatal-related nausea and vomiting, or chromosomal aberration in a previous pregnancy. Statistically significant, negative correlations were found between women’s perception of their partner’s involvement during pregnancy and women’s stress (r=-0.23 ; p=0.001) ; the same was not found for women’s anxiety. Conclusion. Greater partner involvement during pregnancy could diminish the women’s stress, but elevated state anxiety just before amniocentesis could not be alleviated in the same way. Thus, health care professionals must pay greater attention to the psychological status of women undergoing amniocentesis to help them better cope with the specificity of the situation.

Amniocentesis; Stress psychological; Anxiety; Partner’s involvement during pregnancy

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