EFFECT OF HEALTH COUNSELING ON THE VITALITY OF PREGNANT WOMEN

Objective: To investigate the effect of health counseling on the vitality of pregnant women. Methodology: This quasi-experimental study was performed on 100 nulliparous pregnant women who presented to comprehensive health centers for prenatal care in Hamadan, Iran in 2018. They were randomly divided into case and control groups. The data gathering tool included Demographic Information Questionnaire and Vitality Scale Questionnaire (VSQ, Deci and Ryan). The counseling program consisted of three sessions, held once a week and were followed up. The control group received only routine care during the study period. The data were analyzed by SPSS version19. Results: Total score of vitality before intervention in the case group was 24.1 ±1.4 and increased to 37.6 ±4.6 after the intervention which resulted in a statistically significant difference between the 02 groups (p <0.001). Conclusion: Health counseling was found to be significantly helpful in promotion of women's vitality during pregnancy and improvement of psychosocial well being.