Lifestyle of pregnant women living in Gonabad (Iran)

  With the onset of pregnancy, the pregnant woman undergoes many physical and mental changes which in turn cause changes in her health behavior and lifestyle. The lifestyle has long-lasting effects on the mother and infant's health during pregnancy. The descriptive and cross-sectional study aimed at studying the pregnant women's lifestyle. The participants were 115 pregnant women who were randomly selected based on stratified random sampling method from health service centers in Gonabad, Iran. The data were collected through a demographic questionnaire and a self-report questionnaire of pregnancy lifestyle. The collected data were analyzed through SPSS software version 16 at p<0.05 level of significance. The pregnant women's age average was 20±0.27 and their gestation age average was 23±0.6 weeks. 83.5% of them were housekeeper, 41.7% of them had a schooling of high school diploma, and 54.8% of them were primipara. The results obtained from different aspects of the lifestyle questionnaire during pregnancy showed that the participants' means were as follows: in food habits (7.93%±0.14), in smoking (13.46±0.13), in health and physical activities (3.67±0.11), in stress control (6.71±0.17), and in safety (11.38±0.11). The results indicated that the most desirable component of lifestyle was related to lack of drug and cigarette consumption. On the other hand, the most undesirable component was related to stress control. Regarding the findings of this research, it seems warranted to provide adequate education and information for the personnel especially in using techniques against stress and self-control in health areas and practicing physical activities properly and regularly.