Procedure
All women in the gynecological department who were
waiting for an elective cesarean section for medical
reasons only were invited to participate anonymously
in the study. The sample was divided randomly into an
experimental and a control group. The researchers
preprepared sealed envelopes, each containing a card
with either “Yes” or “No” in equal numbers. Each
woman who agreed to participate in the study and
signed an informed consent chose a sealed envelope.
The women who had the “Yes” card were included in
the experimental group, and those who had the “No”
card were included in the control group. The
experimental group included 28 women and the
control group included 32 women.
A nurse obtained the baseline measures of
participants, beginning with vital signs followed by the
psychological self-reporting questionnaires. After this
procedure, each woman waited for the operation alone,
in a secluded corner in the department, lying on her
bed and separated from others by curtains, with no
relatives or friends; only the regular medical staff was
occasionally present. Women in the experimental
group listened to their preferred music (chosen from
three options), for 40 minutes, using a Discman with
earphones, while lying on their beds. Control group
women also waited for the operation in the same
conditions, lying on their beds but without music.
After 40 minutes, the questionnaires were administered