A Principal Component Analysis Approach to Maternal Mental Health Nursing Care
Published Online: Feb 03, 2025
Received: Sep 22, 2024
Accepted: Dec 29, 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/amns-2025-0041
Keywords
© 2025 Chunmei Jiang, published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The level of maternal mental health has a significant impact on both maternal and foetal health, and studies have shown that uterine blood flow, preterm birth, low birth weight babies, and the increasing number of caesarean sections are all correlated with maternal mental health [1–2]. Pregnancy, labour and the postnatal period are important milestones in a woman’s life course, and the experiences encountered during these processes will have a long-term impact on the woman, the child, the family and society [3–4]. Pregnancy and childbirth is a special physiological process, but also a period of emotional and affective variability, during which an adverse psychological state can constrain the functioning of various organs of the body through relevant physiological, endocrine and immune intermediary mechanisms, thus affecting maternal physical and mental health and the normal development of the fetus [5–7]. Particularly, primiparous women have too little knowledge about pregnancy and childbirth, and they especially hope that obstetric nursing staff will guide selfmonitoring during pregnancy and preparation for childbirth to ensure their health as well as the birth of a healthy child [8–10]. Therefore, maternal psychological care is very important, and its physical and mental medicine is increasingly receiving widespread attention, requiring the majority of obstetrics and gynecology medical workers should not only pay attention to the impact of physiological factors on childbirth but also pay more attention to the impact of social and psychological factors on the process of childbirth, and to help mothers to best use their potential to complete the process of childbirth, in order to improve the quality of pregnancy and childbirth [11–13].
The more active psychological responses of pregnant mothers can affect maternal health, fetal development, the progress of labour, complications and comorbidities during labour, and attention to the development of maternal mental health has become an important topic in today’s research on maternal and child health. Literature [14] designed a pilot effect trial of a novel dichotomous intervention to examine the effects of practical resources for effective postnatal parenting and conventional intensive treatment on symptoms of maternal mental health disorders after childbirth, and the results of the experiment indicated that practical resources for effective postnatal parenting, an intervention to prevent common maternal mental health disorders, could improve subclinical symptoms in high-risk twin births. Literature [15] set up a randomised controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of a perinatal collaborative care intervention in moderating the impact of adverse neonatal birth events on the risk of postpartum depressive symptoms and impaired functioning in prenatally depressed women of lower socio-economic status and the results of the experiment validated the effectiveness of brief interpersonal psychotherapy, medication, or both maternal mental health care interventions. Literature [16] stated that the most common pregnancy and postpartum complication is depression, called for relevant services to develop effective mental health interventions to prevent depression, and suggested three key strategies to better screen for depressed maternal patients. Literature [17] designed intervention trials to examine the effectiveness of interventions to prevent perinatal depression in pregnant and postpartum individuals (under 1 year of age) or in populations at increased risk of perinatal depression, and counselling interventions have been shown in several trials to be effective in preventing perinatal depression.
Meanwhile, literature [18] explored whether positive maternal mental health care during pregnancy reduces the risk of mental and behavioural disorders in children as well as mitigates the adverse effects of negative maternal mental health, with experimental data suggesting that positive maternal mental health care is unlikely to result in the delivery of children with mental and behavioural disorders. Literature [19] examined the impact of group prenatal care (GPC) on maternal mental health and well-being outcomes (i.e., stress, depression, and anxiety) and found that group prenatal care improves maternal mental health indicators of depression, stress, and anxiety through a correlational controlled experiment. Literature [20] used linear regression to assess predictors of maternal mental health and coping to identify maternal mental health prevention strategies during the perinatal period. Literature [21] used data analysis methods such as analysis of variance, bivariate and logistic regression, and cluster analysis to explore the relationship between maternal mental health care and non-mentally healthy nurses’ and midwives’ engagement, professional development needs, knowledge, and attitudes, and found that strengthening the mental health knowledge base of nurses and midwives could significantly contribute to maternal mental health.
This paper begins with a preliminary exploration of maternal mental health, followed by the design of a research experiment in which 326 pregnant women in S city were selected as the study subjects, and data on basic maternal information and the mental health status of the subjects were collected through questionnaires and SCL-90 scales. Descriptive statistics were performed on the collected data to understand the basic mental health status of pregnant women. And then, maternal mental health was analysed differently in terms of three aspects: literacy level, work status, and family economic situation. Through principal component analysis, the influencing factors of maternal mental health were further investigated. Based on the conclusions of the empirical analyses, interventions and care measures for maternal mental health are proposed.
Female pregnancy and childbirth are normal and natural physiological processes for women of childbearing age, but for a variety of reasons, they bring significant physiological and psychological stress to individual pregnant women, presenting them with a state of psychological stress. Especially pregnant women who are waiting to give birth are prone to negative emotions such as fear, anxiety and depression about childbirth. Adverse psychological conditions can affect the process of pregnancy and delivery. Therefore, understanding the mental health of expectant mothers and intervening in their adverse psychological conditions can not only maintain maternal mental health but also improve the quality of perinatal health care.
Psychology and psychopathology believe that psychological symptoms manifested by pregnant women due to physiological changes are normal psychological reactions, but if they are under stress for a long time, more serious psychological problems may occur, which may have an impact on the labour process and the outcome of labour. Adverse psychological reactions of pregnant women, such as anxiety, depression, stress, fear, etc., will cause imbalance or disorder in the psychological activities of pregnant women, which in turn may lead to disorders in the neuro-endocrine system of pregnant women, affecting their sleep, appetite, weak contractions, etc., and affecting to varying degrees the outcome of pregnancy and the health of the offspring.
The expectant period is an important time for pregnant women’s emotional and somatic exposure to a variety of stresses. As pregnancy progresses, excessive mental worry due to the undesirable gender of the foetus, foetal malformations, stillbirths, preterm labour, difficulties in delivery, and fear of contraction pains gradually worsens as the pregnancy nears the end of labour. Anxiety and depression are common psychological problems in pregnant women during pregnancy, and are the main reasons why they seek psychological counselling. Anxiety is a psychological tension and unpleasant anticipation of adapting to some major event in the environment that is imminent, may pose a danger or threat, or foretells a maj or endeavor. The emergence of anxiety is often accompanied by depression. The definition of depression is a negative emotional state that lasts for an extended period and simultaneously affects psychological or social functioning. Previous research has indicated that there is a high prevalence of anxiety and depression among pregnant women. Related studies have found a significant correlation between the occurrence of postpartum depression and prenatal mental health status.
326 pregnant women on file in Municipality A. The data was obtained from the results of a questionnaire between May 2024 and June 2024 for 326 pregnant women on file in a city.
The data were collected by means of self-administered questionnaires from the respondents, and the survey was conducted from May 2024 to June 2024. After the questionnaires were collected, the researcher checked and organized the questionnaires in a timely manner to make up for and correct any omissions and errors found. The questionnaires were then coded, and unqualified questionnaires were excluded. A total of 326 questionnaires were distributed, and 326 valid questionnaires were returned.
Basic information
It mainly includes items such as age, education level, working status, marital status, whether one-child, type of household, family economic status, planned pregnancy, pre-pregnancy body mass index, whether it is the first time to give birth and mode of delivery.
Mental health status (SCL-90 scale)
The SCL-90 was developed by Derogatis based on Hopkin’s Symptom Inventory he compiled [22–23]. It has been widely used in mental health research, was introduced in China in the 1980s and then widely used, and is one of the more popular of the various self-assessment scales. The scale is characterized by its extensive content, a detailed reflection of symptoms, and a more precise description of the respondent’s self-perceived symptoms.
The SCL-90 has a total of 90 items, including 10 factors that reflect 10 aspects of psychological symptoms. Specific factors include somatisation, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobia, paranoia, psychoticism, and others.
Principal component analysis is mainly used to construct “comprehensive indicators” to maximize the separation of the original data [24–25]. That is, to replace the original large number of variables with a few variables, and to combine the duplicated information, which can not only reduce the dimension of the existing variables, but also will not lose important information. The main idea of the analysis is as follows.
Denote the original variable
Then the variance and covariance of
Principal components
First principal component
Second principal component
……
The
Remembering (
Here it is:
Further we can derive:
Then, the proportion of variance contributed by the
Of course, if the values of variable
In this study, 326 questionnaires were recovered and 326 were valid, with a validity rate of 100%. The age of the study subjects was 18-40 years old, with a mean age of 29.42±4.58 years old, and the detection rate of adverse childhood experiences was 12.27% (40/326), and other basic information is shown in Table 1.
Based on the data in Table 1, it can be found that the literacy level of the 326 pregnant women of the subjects was concentrated in secondary school and below and speciality, and 23.93% of them had a bachelor’s degree and above. In terms of working status, 82.21 percent of pregnant women participated in work, which was much more than the number of pregnant women who did not participate in work. Statistics on marital status and only child show a wide disparity, with 93.87 per cent of pregnant women having a marital status of married and 91.41 per cent having a child who is not an only child. More than 5,000 yuan is the per capita monthly household income of 78.83 percent of pregnant women. There was little distinction between first-time and non-first-time births in the majority of maternal pregnancies that were planned.
Basic information of pregnant women
| Item | Classification | |
|---|---|---|
| Age | - | 29.42±4.58 |
| Cultural degree | Middle school and below | 139 (46.64%) |
| Vocational education | 109 (33.43%) | |
| Undergraduate and above | 78 (23.93%) | |
| Working condition | Employed | 268 (82.21%) |
| Unemployed | 58 (17.79%) | |
| Marital status | Married | 306 (93.87%) |
| Other (divorced/single) | 20 (6.13%) | |
| The only child | Yes | 28 (8.59%) |
| No | 298 (91.41%) | |
| Type of household registration | Urban account | 149 (45.71%) |
| Rural account | 177 (54.29%) | |
| Family economic condition | Per capita monthly income<5000 RMB | 69 (21.17%) |
| Per capita monthly income≥5000 RMB | 257 (78.83%) | |
| Planned pregnancy | Yes | 277 (84.97%) |
| No | 49 (15.03%) | |
| The body mass index before pregnancy (kg/m2) | - | 22.16±3.72 |
| First parturition | Yes | 160 (49.08%) |
| No | 166 (50.92%) | |
| Childbirth week | - | 38.25±1.05 |
| Method of parturition | Vaginal parturition | 207 (63.50%) |
| Caesarean parturition | 119 (36.50%) | |
| Blood flow (ml) | - | 324.43±78.96 |
The SCL-90 scale was used to measure the mental health of 326 pregnant women, and the mental health status of these 326 pregnant women was compared with that of the Chinese norm to specifically analyse the manifestation of psychological problems in pregnant women. The total mental health score of the Chinese norm was 131.81±36.26. The results of the maternal SCL-90 total score, total mean score, mean score of positive symptoms, and the comparison of each factor with the norm are shown in Table 2. The total mean score is calculated by dividing the total score by 90.
Comparison results of mental health of pregnant women and normal mode
| Factor | Pregnant women | Normal mode | T | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total score | 146.54±38.94 | 131.81±36.26 | 18.846 | 0.000** |
| Total mean | 1.63±0.18 | 1.46±0.45 | 7.198 | 0.000** |
| Positive symptom mean | 2.68±1.44 | 2.32±0.55 | 11.626 | 0.000** |
| Somatization | 1.46±0.21 | 1.35±0.42 | 6.125 | 0.000** |
| Obsessive compulsive | 1.51±0.25 | 1.47±0.52 | 2.433 | 0.000** |
| Interpersonal sensitivity | 1.59±0.28 | 1.54±0.64 | 1.874 | 0.000** |
| Depression | 1.67±0.16 | 1.50±0.53 | 3.465 | 0.000** |
| Anxiety | 1.63±0.25 | 1.41±0.45 | 10.842 | 0.000** |
| Hostility | 1.53±0.26 | 1.45±0.49 | 1.784 | 0.000** |
| Photic anxiety | 1.51±0.22 | 1.22±0.46 | 10.945 | 0.000** |
| Paranoid ideation | 1.57±0.20 | 1.43±0.51 | 2.956 | 0.000** |
| Psychoticism | 1.46±0.17 | 1.24±0.40 | 9.155 | 0.000** |
| Additional items | 1.30±0.32 | 1.18±0.37 | 4.598 | 0.000** |
According to Table 2, we can see that all the maternal mental health measures are higher than the norm, and the maternal SCL-90 total score, total mean score, and positive symptom mean score are higher than the norm level by 14.73, 0.17, and 0.36, respectively. The 326 pregnant women in the study have low self-perception, and their mental health needs to be monitored. The scores of the other 10 factors were: somatisation 1.46±0.21, obsessive-compulsive symptoms 1.51±0.25, interpersonal sensitivity 1.59±0.28, depression 1.67±0.16, anxiety 1.63±0.25, hostility 1.53±0.26, phobia 1.51±0.22, paranoia 1.57±0.20, psychoticism 1.46±0.17, and other 1.30. 0.17, other 1.30±0.32.
Comparison between pregnant women and norms showed that all 10 factor scores were higher than the national norms, and the three highest scores of interpersonal sensitivity, depression and anxiety were tested, indicating that the SCL-90 factor scores of pregnant women were generally higher than the Chinese norms, and the difference was statistically significant.
Further differential analyses of maternal mental health were conducted to explore whether differences in literacy level, work status, and family economic situation have an impact on maternal mental health.
Maternal SCL-90 factor scores and total mean scores of different literacy levels were subjected to independent samples t-test, and the results are shown in Table 3. From the data in Table 3, it can be judged that there is no significant difference in obsessive-compulsive symptoms, interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, horror, paranoia, psychoticism, other, and total mean scores among pregnant women with different literacy levels, and there is a significant difference in somatisation, depression, and anxiety (p=0.000), and pregnant women with a bachelor’s degree or above are significantly better than those with a secondary school or below and those with a specialist degree. Overall, the mental health of pregnant women with higher levels of education was lower than that of pregnant women with lower levels of education.
Comparison of SCL-90 score of pregnant women with different cultural degrees
| Factor | Middle school and below | Vocational education | Undergraduate and above | F | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somatization | 1.32±0.17 | 1.41±0.22 | 1.65±0.21 | 0.866 | 0.000** |
| Obsessive compulsive | 1.45±0.15 | 1.53±0.13 | 1.55±0.12 | 0.410 | 0.562 |
| Interpersonal sensitivity | 1.61±0.15 | 1.59±0.16 | 1.57±0.14 | 0.746 | 0.426 |
| Depression | 1.52±0.21 | 1.59±0.23 | 1.90±0.17 | 0.085 | 0.000** |
| Anxiety | 1.49±0.12 | 1.56±0.21 | 1.84±0.22 | 0.269 | 0.000** |
| Hostility | 1.52±0.18 | 1.54±0.20 | 1.53±0.13 | 0.450 | 0.715 |
| Photic anxiety | 1.51±0.19 | 1.52±0.21 | 1.50±0.17 | 0.791 | 0.623 |
| Paranoid ideation | 1.59±0.15 | 1.54±0.17 | 1.58±0.22 | 0.433 | 0.425 |
| Psychoticism | 1.52±0.20 | 1.44±0.15 | 1.42±0.16 | 0.657 | 0.395 |
| Additional items | 1.32±0.18 | 1.29±0.15 | 1.29±0.23 | 0.176 | 0.826 |
| Total mean | 1.61±0.17 | 1.63±0.18 | 1.65±0.17 | 0.339 | 0.577 |
The results of the comparison of the mental health of pregnant women in different work statuses are shown in Table 4. From the data in Table 4, it can be found that there are significant differences in somatisation, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety and total mean scores (p=0.000) among pregnant women with different working statuses, and pregnant women who participate in work are significantly better than those who do not participate in work. Overall, the mental health levels of working mothers were lower than those of non-working mothers.
Comparison of SCL-90 score of pregnant women with different working conditions
| Factor | Employed | Unemployed | F | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somatization | 1.52±0.24 | 1.40±0.12 | 1.288 | 0.000** |
| Obsessive compulsive | 1.49±0.11 | 1.53±0.24 | 1.113 | 0.425 |
| Interpersonal sensitivity | 1.68±0.22 | 1.50±0.21 | 0.729 | 0.000** |
| Depression | 1.85±0.14 | 1.49±0.12 | 0.535 | 0.000** |
| Anxiety | 1.78±0.15 | 1.48±0.16 | 0.328 | 0.000** |
| Hostility | 1.47±0.22 | 1.58±0.25 | 0.203 | 0.154 |
| Photic anxiety | 1.49±0.22 | 1.53±0.14 | 1.339 | 0.745 |
| Paranoid ideation | 1.56±0.15 | 1.58±0.22 | 0.112 | 0.862 |
| Psychoticism | 1.48±0.19 | 1.45±0.23 | 0.798 | 0.486 |
| Additional items | 1.28±0.14 | 1.32±0.18 | 0.894 | 0.635 |
| Total mean | 1.68±0.15 | 1.58±0.2O | 0.861 | 0.005** |
This difference may be related to socio-cultural and economic factors. Firstly, working mothers experience physical discomforts and obstacles as a result of pregnancy and childbirth, which may affect their work and lead to reduced competitiveness in the workplace. Secondly, working mothers need to balance pregnancy and childbirth with work, and have more difficulties to overcome than non-working mothers, which consequently leads to more psychological distress than non-working mothers.
Maternal SCL-90 factor scores and total mean scores of different family economic situations were subjected to independent samples t-test, and the results are shown in Table 5. Observing the data in Table 5, it can be seen that there are significant differences in the SCL-90 factor scores and total mean scores of pregnant women with different family economic situations (p=0.000) and the mental health level of pregnant women with a monthly family income of <5,000 yuan is significantly lower than that of pregnant women with a monthly family income of ≥5,000 yuan. Mothers with low household income were more likely to experience mental health problems. The time and money costs of pregnancy and childbirth are larger, and the expenses of pregnant women in terms of medical care and food increase, so compared with pregnant women with higher family incomes, those with lower incomes are prone to poor moods due to financial reasons, leading to mental health problems.
Comparison of SCL-90 score of pregnant women with different economic conditions
| Factor | Per capita monthly income<5000 RMB | Per capita monthly income≥5000 RMB | F | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somatization | 1.62±0.12 | 1.30±0.24 | 0.396 | 0.000** |
| Obsessive compulsive | 1.65±0.24 | 1.37±0.12 | 1.685 | 0.000** |
| Interpersonal sensitivity | 1.63±0.12 | 1.55±0.11 | 0.747 | 0.000** |
| Depression | 1.87±0.20 | 1.47±0.22 | 1.147 | 0.000** |
| Anxiety | 1.79±0.16 | 1.47±0.12 | 0.646 | 0.000** |
| Hostility | 1.63±0.16 | 1.43±0.15 | 0.429 | 0.000** |
| Photic anxiety | 1.67±0.19 | 1.35±0.15 | 0.536 | 0.000** |
| Paranoid ideation | 1.65±0.18 | 1.49±0.16 | 1.197 | 0.000** |
| Psychoticism | 1.53±0.16 | 1.39±0.11 | 0.767 | 0.000** |
| Additional items | 1.39±0.14 | 1.21±0.21 | 0.422 | 0.000** |
| Total mean | 1.82±0.15 | 1.44±0.16 | 0.645 | 0.000** |
In this section, we conducted a principal component analysis of survey respondents with significant psychological problems using R software. Firstly, 10 indicators were used as reference items and 10 representative samples with significant performance on each indicator were screened for principal component analysis. The variables analysed in the principal component analysis were X1 (age), X2 (literacy level), X3 (work status), X4 (marital status), X5 (whether or not they are an only child), X6 (type of household), X7 (family economic status), X8 (gestational week of delivery), X9 (feelings of pregnancy/childbirth), and X10 (pressure to raise children in the future).
The principal component loadings of the variable matrix were calculated with the help of R software, and the results are shown in Table 6. According to the principle that the selection of principal components should comply with the principle that the cumulative variance contribution rate is greater than 90%, we selected Component 1, Component 2, Component 3, Component 4, Component 5, and Component 6 as principal components.
The principal component load of the variable matrix
| Standard deviation | Proportion of variance | Cumulative proportion | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Component 1 | 1.7332295 | 0.3387381 | 0.3387381 |
| Component 2 | 1.4678952 | 0.2248547 | 0.5635928 |
| Component 3 | 1.3231866 | 0.1503544 | 0.7139472 |
| Component 4 | 1.2108457 | 0.1015672 | 0.8155144 |
| Component 5 | 0.8548223 | 0.0726483 | 0.8881627 |
| Component 6 | 0.6262886 | 0.0431658 | 0.9313285 |
| Component 7 | 0.5524677 | 0.0405685 | 0.9718970 |
| Component 8 | 0.4746461 | 0.0146856 | 0.9865826 |
| Component 9 | 0.2516422 | 0.0081526 | 0.9947352 |
| Component 10 | 0.2407785 | 0.0052648 | 1.0000000 |
The principal component loading array of the variable matrix was obtained by using R software, and the calculation results are shown in Table 7. From the principal component loading array, it can be seen that the largest loaded variable in the principal component Component 1 is variable X9 (pregnancy/childbirth feelings), so Component 1 is named as the principal component of own feelings. The largest loaded variable in principal component Component 2 is variable X1 (age), so Component 2 is named as the basic objective status principal component. The largest loaded variable in principal component Component 3 is variable X2 (cultural level), naming Component 3 as the cultural education principal component. The largest loading in principal component Component 4 is variable X7 (family economic status), naming Component 4 as the economic status principal component. The largest loading in principal component Component 5 is variable X10 (pressure to raise children in the future), naming Component 5 as the social pressure principal component. The largest load in principal component Component 6 is variable X3 (work status), so Component 6 is named as the career development principal component.
The principal component load matrix of the variable matrix
| Component 1 | Component 2 | Component 3 | Component 4 | Component 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X1 | 0.254 | 0.445 | 0.286 | 0.302 | 0.302 |
| X2 | 0.212 | 0.125 | 0.514 | 0.265 | 0.265 |
| X3 | 0.306 | 0.365 | -0.259 | -0.248 | -0.342 |
| X4 | 0.188 | -0.165 | 0.416 | 0.342 | 0.284 |
| X5 | -0.124 | -0.402 | 0.356 | 0.415 | 0.276 |
| X6 | 0.311 | -0.345 | -0.391 | -0.245 | -0.358 |
| X7 | 0.364 | 0.265 | 0.356 | 0.542 | 0.286 |
| X8 | 0.389 | 0.315 | 0.426 | 0.463 | -0.297 |
| X9 | 0.425 | 0.276 | 0.401 | -0.428 | 0.348 |
| X10 | 0.254 | 0.259 | -0.326 | 0.224 | 0.426 |
| Component 6 | Component 7 | Component 8 | Component 9 | Component 10 | |
| X1 | 0.215 | 0.348 | 0.280 | 0.256 | 0.394 |
| X2 | 0.246 | 0.256 | 0.362 | 0.419 | 0.384 |
| X3 | 0.472 | -0.375 | 0.288 | 0.242 | -0.270 |
| X4 | 0.342 | 0.303 | -0.237 | -0.254 | 0.297 |
| X5 | -0.305 | 0.371 | 0.418 | 0.250 | 0.438 |
| X6 | 0.312 | -0.270 | 0.382 | -0.444 | 0.295 |
| X7 | -0.295 | 0.390 | 0.431 | 0.439 | -0.238 |
| X8 | 0.384 | 0.425 | -0.256 | 0.448 | 0.417 |
| X9 | -0.401 | 0.331 | 0.412 | -0.245 | -0.304 |
| X10 | 0.369 | -0.293 | 0.249 | 0.309 | 0.404 |
Through the above principal component analysis, this paper concludes that among the multiple factors affecting maternal mental health, the main factors are maternal own factors (own feelings, age, cultural level), family economic situation, the pressure of raising children in the future, and maternal work status.
The conclusions of the previous study show that the mental health status of pregnant women is mainly affected by pregnancy/childbirth feelings, age, cultural level, family economic status, pressure of raising children in the future, work status and other factors of which age, cultural level and family economic status are objective factors that are difficult to change quickly, so the mental health care of pregnant women is mainly based on the following aspects to change the maternal pregnancy/childbirth feelings and relieve their psychological pressure.
During the special period of pregnancy, pregnant women are subjected to great physical and psychological discomfort and pressure, and their spirits are inevitably in a state of tension and stress, and they have panic and anxiety about pregnancy/childbirth. Therefore, in maternal mental health care, it is necessary to guide pregnant women to keep an open mind in everything, especially during pregnancy, and pay more attention to listening to some relaxing and soothing music during leisure time and reading some illustrated pregnancy health care knowledge as well as some books on parenting. Encourage pregnant women to do things they enjoy and try to keep their moods as relaxed as possible to easily handle this special period. It may be useful for medical staff and pregnant women themselves and their families to provide targeted psychological counselling and guidance in accordance with the different personality traits of pregnant women. Through intervention, pregnant women can better adapt to the environment in terms of their cognition, emotions, and attitudes, maintain physical and mental health and harmony, and feel good about their pregnancy/childbirth.
Before giving birth, members of important families around pregnant women, such as husbands, parents and in-laws, are educated about mental health so that they understand the characteristics of this special period for pregnant women, and are advised to not only care for and consider pregnant women in their daily lives, but also to have more emotional exchanges with them, so that pregnant women can have a family environment full of warmth and harmony so that they can help to solve practical problems, increase the social support of pregnant women and ease their worries about postnatal career development and child-rearing, and reduce stressful events. To help solve practical problems, increase social support for pregnant women, alleviate their worries about postnatal career development and child rearing, and reduce the occurrence of stressful events. Family members should be guided to give more correct and positive comments to pregnant women, enhance their selfconfidence, reduce negative emotional experiences, make them feel comfortable and comforted, reduce their psychological burden, and devote themselves to preparing for childbirth.
Health-care workers need to be informed in advance of the importance of obstetric examinations and insist that pregnant women undergo them on a regular basis so that any abnormalities can be detected and resolved in a timely manner. Experienced medical staff give lectures to pregnant women and their families and regularly conduct a series of lectures on pregnancy and childbirth and on mental health, as well as on diet, sleep, nutrition, health guidance and psychological counselling during pregnancy. Mothers with successful experiences and their spouses are invited to come to the hospital to share their experiences. Pregnant women are also invited to visit the hospital’s facilities and watch a video on painless delivery for primigravid women, so that they can understand the level of hospital services. Through these initiatives, pregnant women are made to understand that pregnancy and childbirth are guaranteed under the existing conditions so as to eliminate negative perceptions of pregnant women, reduce the stress level of their spouses, and improve the psychological problems of pregnancy and childbirth.
The use of biofeedback therapy, brainwave therapy, and other aids allows pregnant women to learn effective ways to alleviate negative emotions and cope with adverse emotional disturbances.
In conclusion, in recent years, with the change in the medical model, the emotional problems of pregnant women, their related factors and their impact on the health of mothers and babies have received more and more attention from researchers and clinicians. Various psychological changes and problems that occur during pregnancy should be detected and identified at an early stage so that family members and medical personnel can take effective psychological care and treatment measures to regulate the psychological balance of pregnant women so that they can cope with pregnancy and childbirth in a good psychological state.
This paper designs the experiment to analyze the influencing factors of maternal mental health, and uses principal component analysis to specifically analyze the factors that influence maternal mental health. On the basis of empirical research, relevant measures for maternal mental health care are proposed.
The scores of the factors of maternal mental health, the total SCL-90 score, the total mean score and the mean score of positive symptoms of the 326 pregnant women who were subjected to the experiment were higher than the normative level. Maternal psychological mood was poor, and mental health problems needed to be improved.
The p-values for maternal somatisation, depression and anxiety were 0.000 for different literacy levels, p-values for maternal somatisation, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety and total mean scores for different work statuses, and p-values for the SCL-90 factors and total mean scores for different family economic statuses. Overall, maternal mental health in terms of literacy level, work status, and family economic situation showed variability.
Among the six principal components with a cumulative variance contribution of more than 90%, variables X9 (feelings of pregnancy/childbirth), X1 (age), X2 (literacy level), X7 (family economic situation), X10 (pressure to raise children in the future), and X3 (work status) were the largest variables in Components 1 to 6, with loadings of 0.425, 0.445, 0.514, respectively, 0.542, 0.426, and 0.472.
Timely intervention and care should be provided to address maternal mental health problems, provide personality guidance to pregnant women, provide family and social support, change negative maternal perceptions, and help pregnant women relax physically and mentally.