Effects of Guided Imagery on Maternal Stress During Hospitalization for Preterm Labor

RESEARCH Proceedings of the 2011 AWHONN Convention

Effects of Guided Imagery on Maternal Stress During Hospitalization for Preterm Labor Childbearing

Nancy Jallo, PhD, FNP, RNC, Virginia Commonwealth Uni-

Paper Presentation Objective o examine the e¡ects of guided imagery (GI) on perceptions of stress as well as physiological measurements of stress in pregnant women hospitalized for preterm labor.

T

versity, Richmond, VA

Roberta Cozens, RNC, MSN, CS, WHNP, IBCLC, Sentara

Design This 10 day repeated measures pilot study used a one group pre/posttest design.

Norfolk General Hospital, Crossover Clinic, Norfolk, VA

Keywords guided imagery maternal stress preterm labor biobehavioral

Setting Inpatient antepartum obstetric unit in a tertiary hospital. Patients/Participants Nineteen pregnant 18 to 45 year old women between 20 and 34 weeks gestation, hospitalized with a diagnosis of preterm labor were recruited from the antepartum unit of a tertiary care hospital. Methods Following informed consent, participants completed a demographic questionnaire and were asked to listen daily to a 20 minute GI compact disc that was selected to enhance study outcomes. Daily study measures collected pre- and postintervention included the Daily Numeric Rating Scale of Stress (NRSS) completed by the participant and Daily Blood Pressure Log completed by the assigned

nurse. Daily practice logs completed by the participant provided information on intervention use and perceived bene¢ts. Results Mean perceived stress level after listening to the intervention was signi¢cantly lower than the mean level of perceived stress before listening to GI (Z 5 3.54, po.001). Eighty-four percent of cases had lower perceived stress scores after listening to GI, while the remainder had equivalent pre- and posttreatment scores. Postintervention mean systolic blood pressure was signi¢cantly lower than the mean score before listening to GI, t(18) 5 2.35, p 5 .031. While 53% of participants had lower diastolic blood pressure postintervention, no signi¢cant di¡erences were found in pre-intervention diastolic blood pressure and postintervention diastolic blood pressure. One hundred percent of participants indicated at least one bene¢t in their daily logs. Conclusion/Implications for Nursing Practice Findings support the e¡ectiveness of the GI intervention in reducing daily perceived stress levels and systolic blood pressure in pregnant women hospitalized for preterm labor. The perceived bene¢ts identi¢ed by participants suggest the acceptance of this mind-body intervention. As a relatively simple and cost-e¡ective intervention, GI is a promising intervention to reduce daily stress and systolic blood pressure in women hospitalized for preterm labor.

Cesarean Delivery for Dystocia in Nulliparous Women Paper Presentation Nancy K. Lowe, CNM, PhD, FACNM, FAAN, College of Nursing, Division of Women, Children & Family Health, University of Colorado

Objective o examine the relationships between prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) categories and Cesarean delivery for dystocia among nulliparous women with a single fetus at term gestation in a head down position.

T

Denver, Aurora, CO

Design A retrospective population cohort design.

S94

Setting University level III perinatal unit. Patients/Participants The inclusion criteria were met by 3,802 nulliparous women. Methods Cohort study of all essentially healthy nulliparous women who delivered a singleton fetus at term gestation in a head down position over a 4 year period.

JOGNN, 40, S85-S119; 2011. DOI: 10.1111/j.1552-6909.2011.01243.x

http://jognn.awhonn.org