Introduction: Anxiety and depression during pregnancy are the major public health problems because of their high prevalence.1 Pregnant mother experiences a series of physical and emotional changes during pregnancy. If she finds difficult to adapt to the changes, then she develops anxiety and depression and it affects the physical and mental health of mother and child.2 Objectives: The objective of the study was to “assess the level of anxiety and depression among antenatal mothers in a selected hospital, Mangalore, with a view to develop an information booklet”. Method: A descriptive approach was adopted for the study and 100 antenatal mothers were selected through purposive sampling technique from a selected hospital Mangalore. A baseline Proforma with 19 items was developed. Standardized scales were used to measure the level of anxiety (HEM-A, r=.782), and depression (EPDS, r=.770). Results: Result indicated that 8% of the subjects had severe level of anxiety, 22% had moderate and 70% had mild level of anxiety, whereas 3% subjects had severe depression, 19% had moderate depression and 78% had mild level of depression. The mean anxiety score was 12.91, SD was 7.018, and the mean % was 23.05. The mean depression score was 8.06, SD was 2.339 and the mean % was 26.87. There was a significant association between level of anxiety and selected variables. like number of pregnancies, number of full-term delivery, number of abortion, number of live children, planned pregnancy, history of depression, and physical health of the sample. There was a significant association between level of depression and selected baseline variables like number of pregnancies, number of abortion, history of depression, and history of counselling. There was a significant statistical correlation between anxiety score and depression score. Conclusion: Anxiety and depression during pregnancy are the major health problem among reproductive aged women.Findings suggest the need for assessment of the risk for prenatal anxiety and symptoms of depression during each antenatal visit and take measures immediately to prevent and manage them.
