Effect of Progressive Muscle Relaxation Technique in Terms oi Anxiety and Physiological Parameters of Antenatal Mothers with Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension.

The study sought to assess the level of anxiety and selected physiological parameters of antenatal mothers with pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) to find out the relationship between anxiety and selected physiological parameters, to 'determine the association between anxiety and selected demographic variables, to determine the association between anxiety and selected physiological parameters and demographic variables. The study was based on self- care concept by Dorothy Orem. A pre-test - post-test control group design was adopted for the study, which was conducted in St Stephens Hospital, Delhi. The sample consisted of 60 antenatal mothers with PIH, 30 each in experimental and control groups. The tools used were a structured interview schedule, state anxiety inventory scale (Speilberger's STAT- Standardised tool), structured observation schedule. The study showed that the mean post-test.anxiety score was lower than mean pre-test score of antenatal mothers with PIH in experimental group and the mean post-test anxiety scores of experimental group of antenatal mothers was lower than the mean post-test anxiety score of control group, proving the effectiveness of relaxation technique in reducing the anxiety of antenatal mothers. But there was no significant relationship between anxiety and selected variables in terms of age, education, parity and period of gestation. It is recommended that similar studies may be conducted using other complementary therapies like yoga, music therapy, massage therapy, hydrotherapy, aroma therapy etc. and n different settings.