Prevalence of Prenatal Stress Among Pregnant Women Attending Selected Antenatal Clinics in Nairobi County, Kenya.

Tabitha Wamucii, MA; Winnie Waiyaki, PhD; & Naomi James, PhD., Daystar University

Globally, preterm birth is the most common pregnancy complication, and though preventable, prenatal stress remains its leading cause. Despite this, prenatal stress goes undetected because it is not one of the assessments in the antenatal care visits leading to under diagnosis of this condition. In Kenya, the prevalence of prenatal stress remains unclear due to limited research. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of prenatal stress among pregnant women in Antenatal Care (ANC) Clinics in Nairobi County. In this study, cross-sectional research design, stratified and systematic sampling techniques were used. 264 respondents from two selected level three hospitals were recruited. The study used Perceived Stress Scale 10 (PSS 10) tool to collect data while the analysis descriptive data analysis. The prevalence of prenatal stress was 48.9%, cohabiting women had a prevalence of 100%, single 62.9%, women above 35 years had 77.8% prevalence, those with primary level of education had 61.2% and self-employed at 57.1%. This study highly recommends continuous assessment of prenatal stress during routine ANC clinic to mitigate its effects on pregnant women.

Keywords: Preterm, prenatal stress, antenatal care, perceived stress, pregnancy.