Prevalence, Psychosocial factors associated with stress levels and stress management mechanisms among pregnant mothers attending antenatal care in Mbarara regional referral Hospital,Mbarara City, Uganda

Stress is a physiological response to the mental, physical, or emotional challenges that weexperience in our day-to-day life that may cause negative health outcomes (Useche et al., 2017).Worldwide, about 10% of pregnant women and 13% of women who have just given birth experience amental disorder as a result of stress. The problem is even higher in developing countries estimating theprevalence at about 15.6% during pregnancy (WHO, 2020).The study was about to establish theprevalence, factors associated withstress levels and stress management mechanismsamong pregnantmothers attending ANC in Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, Uganda.The objectives of the study were;to determine the prevalence of stress levels, establish the psychosocial factors associated with stresslevelsand to document stress management mechanisms used by pregnant mothers attending ANC inMbarara Regional Referral Hospital.Methods: The study adopted a hospital facility based cross sectionaldesign and targeted pregnant mothers accessing antenatal services at ANC clinic. A sample size of 370was selected using consecutive sampling method. A questionnaire method was used to collect data frompregnant mothers and interview guide to the key informants who included midwives and counselors.Quantitative data were analyzed through univariate, bivariate and Multivariate levels of analysis with levelof significance at 0.05. Logistic regression analysis was used because the outcome variable (stress levels)was transformed into a binary variable (Yes/No).