Relationship between perceived stress level and self-perception level of women who had three or more pregnancies

Objectives: The present study determined the relationship between the perceived stress level of women who had three or more pregnancies and their self-perception levels. Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out with 230 pregnant women who had three or more pregnancies and visited the Gynecology and Obstetrics Polyclinics of Kocaeli University Research and Application Hospital between May and October 2018. The data collection was performed using the personal information form, Self-Perception Scale for Pregnant Women and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). In analyzing the data obtained, the percentages, t-test, ANOVA test, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman's Correlation Analysis were used. Results: The mean score of the pregnant women on the PSS was 42.62 +/- 5.01 and the mean scores on the "Perception of Motherhood during Pregnancy" (PMDP) and "Perception of Body during Pregnancy" (PBDP) subscales were 19.54 +/- 5.07 and 13.16 +/- 3.96, respectively. A weak negative relationship was found between PSS and PMDP (p<0.05), whereas no relationship was found for PBDP (p>0.05). PMDP and PBDP had a weak negative relationship (p<0.05). Conclusion: The perceived stress level of women having a history of three or more pregnancies affected their motherhood perception but not their body perception.