European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine ISSN 2515-8260 Volume 7, Issue 11, 2020 1155 Comparison Of Stress Between Urban And Rural Primi Mothers During Pregnancy Prof. Dr. Pravati Tripathy 1 , Aparajita Goswami 2 Debjani Nayak 3 , Pratibha Khosla 3 1 Dean, 3 & 4 Assoc Prof, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecological Nursing, SUM Nursing College, Siksha O Anusandhan (Deemed to be University), Bhubaneswar, pin-751003,Odisha ,India. Corresponding author: Prof. Dr. Pravati Tripathy; Email: pravatitripathy@soa.ac.in Abstract: Introduction: Pregnancy influences the physical and hormonal status of the body and many women experience it as stressful situaton at some point. Objectives: The present study was aimed to assess and compare the level of stress among primi mother of rural and urban areas during antenatal period. Methods: A descrptive survey was conducted to find out the level of stress. Through appropriate sample size calculation 100 mothers were selected conviniently those were attending antenatal OPD. The questionnaire was developed for measurement of stress based on Wang-34 stress scale. Result: Among the women 84% were form rural and 58% from urban area.In both the groups no one had severe stress. They had moderate level of stress. The mean stress score in rural women was higher than urban women.The difference in level of stress among them was significant at p value < 0.0001. Age, duration of marital life and complication during pregnancy had association with the level of stress. Conclusion: Stress during pregnancy can be dangerous for mother and baby. Finding the ways to reduce the stressful situation is very important for the health of the unborn baby. Counselling services are helpful for managing stress during their pregnancy. Introduction Stress is something that everyone experiences in their life which build confidence to manage life situations. Pregnancy is a time of great change and it imposes a significant amount of stress on mother knowingly and unknowingly. While short term stress is not detrimental to the health of the mother or baby and can actually be beneficial in certain circumstances, but prolonged periods of stress have been linked to negative health consequences. 1 Some studies are suggestive that stress in pregnancy can cause certain hormonal changes that can impede the growth of the baby or bring preterm labour. 2 It has physical and emotional affects and creates positives and negative feelings. Even though everyone experiences stress, research has shown that pregnant women undergo psychological, physical and social changes during pregnancy. 3 A high levels of stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms experienced by the women during pregnancy. 4, 5 The prevalence of depressive symptoms found was 29% with acute anxiety symptoms and the common factors for stress were lack of support, poverty, illiteracy, violence by the partner, ineffective coping. 6 The stress experienced by the women was at moderate level and high levels stress was associated with many maternal factors. 7 Even many women (19.4%) suffered from mood and anxiety disorders with depression (5.5%) and obsessive compulsive disorder (5.2%). 8 The mothers of pre term babies had higher level of stress during pregnancy than the mothers of term babies. 9 Methodology The study was planned and conducted in the maternity clinic of IMS and SUM hospital, Bhubaneswar. This survey was planned to be conducted to compare the stress among rural and urban women those were attending this clinic. Sample size was calculated by the formula