Gender Preference, Stress And The Correlates Of Pregnant Women In An Urban

Objectives To understand gender preference of the pregnant women and their family members and the extent of the pregnant women get anxiety and depression was during the second trimester and before delivery and to explore the gender preference,stress and the correlates of pregnant women. Methods Follow up with the pregnant women and carry out face-to-face interviews with self-designed questionnaire. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) were used in the study during the second trimester and before delivery. Results In the second trimester, the pregnant women without gender preference accounted for 61.3%. However, the others (38.7%) with preference, among which 80.4% prefer to girls. Before delivery, the pregnant women without gender preference accounted for 63.9%. However, the others (36.1%) with preference, among which 76.7% prefer to girls. There was no different between the tow stages. (P>0.05) . The average scores of State Anxiety in the second trimester and before delivery were 33.53±8.17, 32.29±8.57 respectively, those of Trait Anxiety were 35.96±7.86,35.77±8.27 respectively. There was no different between the tow stages. The rate of depression in the second trimester and before delivery was 34.5% and 19.3% respectively. The scores of the State Anxiety, Trait Anxiety and depression went the same way among the surveyed women. The social demographic factors weren't associated with gender preference. Before delivery, the scores of the State Anxiety, Trait Anxiety in the middle school team were higher than other teams, which were 40.83±8.28, 43.67±10.48 respectively. Before delivery, the minimum scores of Trait Anxiety among civil servants were 28.17±3.37.The scores of the State Anxiety, Trait Anxiety and the women's pregnancy-related anxiety was positively correlated to depression. (the second trimester, r_s=0.409,r_s=0.417,r_s=0.342, P<0.001; before delivery, r_s=0.632,r_s=0.748,r_s=0.331, P<0.001). The scores of the relationship with husbands was negatively correlated to depression.(the second trimester, r_s=-0.196,P<0.001, before delivery, r_s=-0.345, P<0.001) . Conclusion The women and their family members show different gender preference. The anxiety in the second trimester of pregnancy was not obvious. However, the prevalence of depression was high. Depression associated with anxiety, relationship with husbands and the pregnancy-related anxiety. Gender preference does not contribute to anxiety and depression during pregnancy.