Reasons for Preoperative Anxiety and Severity in Psychological Stress of Women Before Caesarean Section

Background: Preoperative fear is a common and neutral response of human beings as expecting surgery even if the surgery is significantly needed. Several factors cause preoperative stress or anxiety, which affects the physical and psychological health of people.Study aim: This study aims to measure the possible reasons for preoperative anxiety and the severity of psychological stress of women prior to cesarean section.Methods: The descriptive and comparative study design was used in a convenience sample of 120 pregnant women before cesarean section. The women were selected from the Al-Zahra Teaching Hospital in Al-Najaf province. The psychological stress level was measured using a brief measure of the emotional preoperative stress scale.Results: The study findings show that the level of psychological stress of women before cesarean delivery ranged from mild (56%) to moderate (43%). The study highlighted the importance of considering the increase in psychological stress levels for women prior to cesarean section and the need for more research into interventions that can reduce psychological stress.Conclusions and recommendations: Psychological stress during pregnancy negatively affects the health of women and their fetuses. Many antianxiety medications are contraindicated for pregnant women; therefore, it is recommended that people use a stress management intervention before any surgery to reduce surgery-related psychological stress