Prevalence of women's worries, anxiety, and depression during pregnancy in a public hospital setting in Greece

Many studies have examined the prevalence and risk factors of postnatal depression. However, only a few studies have explored the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms in pregnancy. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of worries, antenatal anxiety (AA), and antenatal depression (AD). The sample of this study consisted of 163 pregnant women with gestational age from 11 to 26 weeks. Worries were measured with Cambridge Worry Scale (CWS), anxiety was measured with State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and depression was measured with Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D). Depressive symptoms were found in 32.7% of the participants and 44.4% had STAI scores indicating anxiety symptoms of clinical significance. The mean score for total CWS was 26 (SD = 12.3). It is noteworthy that the most important worries in the study sample were ''the possibility of something going wrong with the baby'', "giving birth'', and "financial problems''. The prevalence of antenatal anxiety and depression identified in this study is of concern. Screening for antenatal anxiety and depressive symptoms with validated instruments is crucial.