Investigating the Impact of Pregnancy Order on Happiness among Expectant Mothers in Rural and Urban Areas

Abstract

A woman’s prenatal experience is significantly influenced by her geographic location, such as whether she lives in an urban or rural area. Better access to healthcare may help urban women, but loneliness, lack of social support, and work pressure also increase stress levels (Gjesfjeld et al., 2010). On the other hand, rural women may have limited access to high-quality maternal health treatments, which can exacerbate their anxiety and psychological distress, despite frequently experiencing strong family support, particularly in joint family systems (Singh & Singh, 2018). Psychological effects may be exacerbated by the interplay between these two variables—area and order of pregnancy. In order to support evidence-based maternal care policies and focused mental health interventions, this study intends to examine the combined effects of region (rural vs. urban) and pregnancy order (first pregnancy vs. second pregnancy) on the happiness and contentment of expectant mothers. The main purpose of the present research is investigating the impact of pregnancy order on happiness among expectant mothers in rural and urban areas. Order of pregnancy and area have been included as independent variables. Happiness have been included as a dependent Variable. Purposive sampling method was used to select 120 pregnant women from Gandhinagar district of Gujarat State.  Happiness Scale developed by Dr. J. C. Ajavani and Dr. Amba Shethi was used for the data collection. Statistical technique “f” test was used for data analysis. Order of pregnancy is found to be significant on happiness of pregnant women; while area is found to be significant for happiness of pregnant women. The interaction between order of pregnancy and area of pregnant women was found to be not Significant.