Methods: Two hundred and forty-six military women were consented and randomized to either the M-O-M-STM intervention or prenatal care without M-O-M-S.TMThe PSEQ-SF, EPDS, RSES and BRIEF were administered in each trimester. Women in the intervention attended 8, 1-hr mentored sessions aimed at decreasing prenatal pregnancy-specific anxiety and depression. The efficacy of the intervention across pregnancy was examined for prenatal anxiety, self-esteem, depression and resilience using linear mixed models with autoregressive correlation. Demographic covariates were: age, employment, parity, marital status, education, deployment history, military branch, race, and active duty status.
Results: M-O-M-S™ participants had significantly greater decreases in prenatal anxiety related to Identification with a Motherhood Role (p = .049) and Preparation for Labor (p = .017). Nulliparous women had significantly lower anxiety related to Acceptance of Pregnancy (β = 1.32; se = 0.56) but five times the anxiety for Preparation of Labor (β = -5.01; se = 0.51). Women with deployed husbands had significantly greater anxiety for Identification of a Motherhood Role (β = 1.04; se = 0.50). All participants had significantly greater increases in resilience (β = 0.04; se = 0.02). There were no significant findings for depression.
Conclusion: The findings reflected significant decreases in prenatal anxiety for women who received the M-O-M-STM program. The impact of the father’s absence on a women’s identification as a mother is extremely important. Military leaders recognize that the well-being of the military family is integral to the morale and readiness of service members.5 The findings provide evidence of the effectiveness of a mentored support program for decreasing pregnancy-specific prenatal anxiety predictive of preterm birth and low birthweight in military women. The findings also highlight the need for appropriate assessments and interventions for differing populations.