Psychological characteristics of pregnant women suffering from gestosis

The aim was to study the comparative psychological characteristics of pregnant women suffering from gestosis and healthy women. The object of research: the study involved 101 pregnant women suffering from gestosis, and the control group of 40 healthy pregnant women. Pregnancy duration was from 30 to 41 weeks. The technique of research was “Psychological Perinatal Card” with use of structured clinical interview for psychological examination of the pregnant woman (Filippova G.G., 2002). This practice reflects the dynamics of mental, physical, personality, social changes in the pregnant woman, a subjective attitude of the woman toward pregnancy, child and her role as a mother, toward forthcoming changes in the future, preparedness to motherhood, and motivation of birth of the child. Results: patients with gestosis experience intrapersonal conflict, manifested in unpreparedness to maternal position with concurrent sufficiently high social value of child and motherhood. This conflict is associated on one hand with high personality anxiety, problems of self-esteem, rigidity of attitude toward norms and rules, reticence, the need for social achievements, breach of contact with others, potential for conflicts. Targets of psychotherapeutic treatment and prevention of gestosis development were developed: motivation of childbirth, self-esteem, attitude toward herself as a mother, relations with other people. The introduction of this technique in practice of pregnancy management improved psychological state of pregnant women and reduced the risk of gestosis.