The Psychological Well-Being of Pregnant Women: Does the Experience of Pregnancy-Specific Uplifts and Hassles Matter?

Abstract

Pregnancy is extremely gratifying and critical in most women’s lives. Mental health of pregnant women has a multi-directional impact, especially on their offspring. Yet, the burgeoning perinatal research focuses on mood and anxiety disorders, which overshadows the correlates and predictors of positive mental health, which can also have pervasive implications. Delineating from the illness approach, an attempt is made to obtain a balanced understanding of positive and negative sides of women’s experience. This study examined how pregnancy experience domains are related to pregnant women's well-being in their 2nd or 3rd trimester. The Pregnancy Experience Scale was used to investigate the pregnancy-specific uplifts' intensity and frequency and the hassles' intensity and frequency. The psychological well-being was assessed by the WHO (Five) Well-Being Index. The participants were recruited from two private and one public sector hospitalsfrom Kerala. 101 participants between the ages of 19 and 39 (M = 26.65, SD = 4.2) experiencing normally progressing pregnancies showed that two of the domains of pregnancy experience; uplift intensity and hassle frequency, are significantly correlated with well-being of the expectant mothers. Furthermore, pregnancy experience accounted for 21% of the variance in the well-being index, which shows this experience plays a discerning role in determining their well-being. The cultural and familial variables pertaining to uplifts should be acknowledged and fostered. These findings also urge healthcare system to concentrate on mental health promotion strategies to enhance well-being by improving resources, capacities, and competencies.