The Effect of Education Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior in Choosing the Type of Delivery in Pregnant Women

Introduction: Although cesarean section has saved the lives of countless mothers and infants, in many cases, medical necessities do not lead to cesarean delivery, but misbehavior has led to cesarean delivery. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the effect of education based on the theory of planned behavior in choosing the type of delivery in pregnant women referred to the Mashhad Comprehensive Health Service Center in 2020. Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental study that was performed on 96 pregnant women who were in the third trimester of pregnancy. Data collection tools included demographic information questionnaire and delivery type selection questionnaire based on the theory of planned behavior. The educational intervention was carried out in the framework of the theory of planned behavior in the experimental group. Data were collected at three time points before, immediately and three months after the intervention. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 23 software and statistical tests of Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Mann-Whitney, Wilcoxon, Friedman and t-test. Results: The mean age of pregnant women participating in this study was 29.05 ± 1.6. There was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups before the intervention in terms of attitude, intention, abstract norm and perceived behavioral control (P > 0.001). But after the educational intervention, in all these variables except the behavioral intention in the experimental group increased significantly (P < 0.001). The rate of normal delivery was 37% in the control group and 63% in the experimental group, so there was a statistically significant difference between the control and experimental groups in the behavior of choosing the type of delivery (P = 0.01). Conclusions: Education based on the theory of planned behavior is an effective intervention in choosing the type of delivery in pregnant women.