Abstract
The third trimester of pregnancy is marked by significant physiological and psychological changes that often lead to sleep disturbances and adversely affect maternal and fetal well-being. This study explored the potential of prenatal massage as a non-pharmacological intervention to improve sleep quality among expectant mothers during this critical period. This Framework employed a quasi-experimental design utilizing a pretest-posttest control group to investigate the effects of prenatal massage on third-trimester pregnant women in Bima City, conducted from July 2024 to January 2025. A total of 448 participants were selected through cluster sampling and divided equally into an intervention group receiving prenatal massage and a control group following routine health service programs. Data collection involved skilled midwives administering a validated questionnaire, consisting of 10 questions with high content validity (i-CVI > 0.83) and reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.82). The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for within-group comparisons and the Mann-Whitney test was used for between-group differences. Results indicated a significant improvement in sleep quality within the intervention group, where 96.4% reported good sleep quality post-intervention compared to only 7.1% pre-intervention. In contrast, the control group showed minimal changes, with only 5.4% reporting good sleep quality after the same period. Statistical analyses showed P values (0.000 and 0.002 respectively), confirming the significant effectiveness of the intervention. These findings suggest that integrating prenatal massage with prenatal care can enhance the well-being of pregnant women. Overall, this study underscores the importance of addressing sleep quality in prenatal care.