ABSTRACT
Background: Nausea and vomiting, which occur in 50 to 60 percents of pregnancies, have a vast injurious effects on the life of the pregnant women as well as their society and occupation. Stressors such as employment increase the incidence of nausea and vomiting. This research has been accomplished in order to compare the occurrence and intensity of nausea and vomiting in employed and housewives pregnant women
Methods and Materials: This observational-analytical research was accomplished by applying cross-sectional and multi-stages sampling method on 310 pregnant housewives and 150 employed pregnant women who had necessary qualification and were referred to prenatal care centers in Bojnord. In three sections of three months of pregnancy, for determining the occurrence of nausea and vomiting in the last two months from interview form, and for determining the intensity, interview form and visual index of nausea intensity and four moods of vomiting. Our analysis of data were done with X[2], T-Student, Manwithney, one way variance analysis, log linear, co-variance and by utilizing the SPSS software with 95% coefficient
Results: The occurrence of nausea and vomiting in employed pregnant women was more than that of housewives [56% vs. 39.36% nausea and 37.3% vs. 26.7% vomiting]. There was a significant relationship between the occurrence of nausea and vomiting and patient's occupation [p<0.0001 for nausea and p = 0.02 for vomiting]. Mean nausea intensity [p <0.0001] and vomiting [p = 0.003] were significantly different between the two groups, being more in employed women [6.52 vs. 4.93 for nausea and 2.06 vs. 1.59 for vomiting]. Also, there were significant differences in the occurrence of nausea [p = 0.02] and its intensity [p = 0.04] and vomiting [p = 0.009] with the mother's activity. There were significant differences between vomiting intensity and age of marriage [p = 0.002], education level [p = 0.008], occurrence of nausea [p = 0.03] and vomiting [p=0.04] with rate of marriage satisfaction as well
Conclusion: Employed pregnant women are at more risk of nausea and vomiting in comparison with unemployed ones. It is necessary to force and enhance suitable laws and more facilities to decrease their nausea and vomiting because of their bad effects on the society