Antenatal anxiety symptoms and its contributing factors: the case in urban areas of Ethiopia

Background: Mental health challenges, such as depression and anxiety, commonly affect pregnant women and can have adverse health consequences for both the mother and the fetus. Despite their significant impact, anxiety symptoms in pregnant women are often inadequately addressed. This study aims to determine the prevalence of anxiety symptoms during pregnancy and identify contributing factors, with the goal of informing effective interventions. Methods: We conducted a community-based cross-sectional study. We used a cluster sampling technique to recruit 940 study participants from selected clusters (sub-cities) in Gondar, Ethiopia. We assessed Anxiety symptoms using a set of three questions (Q 3, 4, & 5) from the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS-3 A). We fitted a binary logistic regression model and computed the Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with its 95 % Confidence Interval (CI). Result: 111 (11.9 %) of pregnant women had anxiety symptoms (95 %CI: 9.91 to 14.15). Compared to women with no formal education, those with secondary schooling had twice the odds of antenatal anxiety (AOR 2.05; 95 % CI 1.08–3.88). Likewise, women who faced food access problems in the past three months had 4.60 times the odds of anxiety compared with those without food issues (95 % CI 2.34–9.05); women with unplanned pregnancies had 2.53 times the odds relative to those with planned pregnancies (95 % CI 1.56–4.10); and those in their third trimester had 1.75 times the odds compared to women in the first trimester (95 % CI 1.10–2.79). Conclusions: This study offers insight into the factors that play a role in the development of antenatal anxiety symptoms. Healthcare professionals should be well-informed about these factors and implement universal psychosocial screening for all pregnant women—ensuring timely identification of those at risk and enabling interventions that enhance their mental well-being.