Fatemeh Karaminejad, Marzieh Talebzadeh Shoushtari, Parvaneh Mousavi, Khadijeh Hekmat, Maryam Moradi

Abstract

Background and Objective: Midwives working in the delivery ward suffer from a great deal of stress that can have an unpleasant effect on both the individual and the professional dimensions. The purpose of this research was to determine the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral group therapy on the occupational stress in midwives working in the delivery ward. Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial study, coded IRCT20190212042682N1, which was performed in 2009, 40 midwives working in the delivery ward of Mahshahr and Ganjavian hospitals of Dezful with the occupational stress in Khuzestan province were studied. Midwives with a score above 117 in the Rice Occupational Stress Questionnaire were randomly divided into two 20-individual experimental and control groups. The experimental group received 8 sessions of cognitive-behavioral therapy and the control group received no training. The tool used in this study were Rice job stress questionnaire and demographic data. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, independent t-test, chi-square, and repeated measure ANOVA in Spss software version 22 at the significance level of P <0.05. Findings: The mean and standard deviation of the stress scores for the intervention group were (181.05± 21.51) in the pre-test and (129.14±05.06) in the post-test and (130.90±14.29) in the follow-up after one month. For the control group, they were (181.15± 27.42) in the pre-test and (176.15±24.58) in the post-test and (174.05 ± 24.00) in the follow-up after one month, respectively. There was no significant difference in stress levels between the experimental and control groups before the intervention (P = 0.990), but after the intervention, there was a significant difference between the two groups (p <0.001). Also, the difference between the two groups was significant one month after the intervention (p <0.001). Conclusion: Cognitive behavioral therapy of stress management reduced the midwives' job stress. It is suggested that managers and midwifery officials organize stress management programs in the workplace, thereby enhancing the quality of midwifery services and client satisfaction‎.