Prenatal Optimism and its Relationship with Fetal and Maternal Characteristics in Primiparous Women

Introduction Maternal and fetal characteristics can be effect on optimism which vary among different cultures and countries. So the aim of this study was to determine Prenatal Optimism and its relationship with fetal and maternal characteristics in primiparous women. Materials and Methods This research study was a descriptive cross - sectional. The statistical populations consisted of 240 pregnancy women with first experience of Isfahan city in (2014-2015) in which were selected by simple available sampling. Demographic/fetal/maternal characteristics and life orientation questionnaire were completed by the participants. For data analysis Pearson correlation coefficient and enter regression by SPSS-14 were used. Results The age of women in the sample ranged from 18 – 37 years with a mean age at the time of the interview of 27.04+ 1.2 years. 64% of the women reported moderate incomes, 62.5% reported holding a high school education.  The mean of gestational age was 24.14+0.9 that 80.8% had 28-34 weeks.  The mean for the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) scores were 31.6+5.2. Pearson correlation index showed, as optimism scores increased, gestational age increased (P = 0.03, r=0.12). While There was no association between optimism and gestational BMI in the study population. Conclusion There was correlation between Optimism and some maternal and fetal information in pregnant women. So educating midwives regarding psychological problems in during pregnancy can be effective for such disorders.