The Relationship between Spousal Support and Health Behaviors of Pregnant Women in Turkey

Background aim: Gaining health behaviors suitable for women during pregnancy is important for the pregnant woman to complete it in a healthy way. This study was carried out to examine the relationship between spousal support and health behaviors of women during pregnancy. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 230 pregnant women who attended a hospital in Adıyaman province, Turkey for routine care between 2019 and 2020 and were selected by random sampling method. A demographic questionnaire, Spousal Support Scale (SSS), and Health Practices in Pregnancy Questionnaire-II (HPQ-II) were used as data collection tools, which were completed through structured interviews. The Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal- Wallis, Pearson Correlation, and Logistic Regression analysis were used to analyze the data. Results: In terms of scale overall scores, pregnant women took 73.84±11.22 and 121.42±13.37 from SSS and HPQ-II, respectively, besides, a moderately significant positive correlation was found between the overall scores of the two scales (r=0.577, p= 0.001). As a result of Logistic Regression Analysis, pregnant woman’s age (OR:0.050), years of education (OR:0.102), spouse’s years of education (OR:0.081), marriage duration, number of pregnancies (OR:0.116), previous live births (OR:0.157), and prior miscarriage (OR:0.025) were found to be important risk factors for health behavior. Conclusion: Spousal support during pregnancy is related to health behaviors and women with more spousal support exhibit high-quality health behaviors. Therefore, it is recommended that women during pregnancy be questioned about their spousal support and to be counseled in this regard to experience a safe pregnancy.