Effects of professional support on nausea, vomiting, and quality of life during early pregnancy

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a professional support (PS) intervention (including individualized health education and supportive phone calls) in reducing the severity of nausea and vomiting (NV) and improving the quality of life (QOL) of women in early pregnancy. An experimental pretest/posttest design with a control group was used. Participants were recruited from a regional teaching hospital in southern Taiwan. The women in the experimental group (n = 40) received the PS intervention, while those in the control group (n = 39) only received routine nursing care. Analysis of covariance and mixed models were used to compare the experimental and control groups while adjusting for covariates. The severity of NV and the perceived level of symptom distress were significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group during weeks 2 and 4, and the women in the experimental group showed a significant improvement in their QOL in week 4 (p < .05). However, there was no significant difference between the two groups in body weight at week 4 (p = .501). These findings provide empirical evidence in support of the effectiveness of PS in reducing the severity of NV and improving QOL for women during early pregnancy. This intervention could be routinely applied in prenatal nursing health education. Future studies could apply the concept of PS to different populations and health issues.

Keywords: body weight; nausea and vomiting; pregnancy; professional support; quality of life.