Assessment of the Effectiveness of Progressive Muscle Relaxation Technique in Reducing Stress Among Primary Infertile Women Undergoing Intra Uterine Insemination

Rachel's eloquent plea ringing through centuries conveys clearly, the desperate hope of the infertile women and their need. The term infertility refers to opponent inability of a couple to conceive after one year of unprotected intercourse. 60-80 million people experience infertility around the world and most of those people live in developing countries. In India infertility affects 10-15% of couples in reproductive age group. Infertility is called "primary" when there has been no prior conception. Male is responsible for the infertility in about 65%. Female is responsible for the infertility in about 40-50% of the cases. Incidences of infertility in India are 92% primary and 8% secondary. To assess the effectiveness of progressive muscle relaxation therapy in reducing stress before and after intrauterine insemination in both experimental and control group. True - experimental research design, Pre-test - post-test -only design was done from July 2020 November 2020 - in 49 primary infertile women undergoing intra uterine insemination. Primary infertile women were randomly assigned to either the Control group or the intervention group. Women were observed for a total duration of four months and assessed with the perceived stress scale. Analysing the data was done using SPSS software, version 16, and paired t, independent t, chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests. Total 49 women were analysed in two groups i.e. intervention group (n=24) and control group (n=25). There were no significant differences in age, education level, spouse's education level, occupation status, spouse's occupation status, cause of infertility, marriage duration, the length of time one knows about their infertility, and the duration of treatment between two groups. After the intervention (Progressive muscle relaxation therapy) at 9th day,15th day of menstruation and after intra uterine insemination, the level of stress has shown a statistically significant reduction (p=0.000). This interventions were more effective for reducing the level of stress. The findings showed that Progressive Muscle Relaxation technique can be benefited to reduce the level of stress among primary infertile women who are undergoing Intra Uterine Insemination