The development of maternal and child health requires reducing urban-rural, regional and group disparities in the health of women and children. Focusing on the quality of life of maternal women in rural areas and other low-income areas is of great significance to improve the inequalities in maternal and child health.

To analyze the current situation of maternal quality of life during pregnancy and its influencing factors in rural China.

From September 2018 to September 2019, a total of 3 329 pregnant women were selected from 6 county-level medical institutions in Shanxi Province, Sichuan Province and Yunnan Province (Zhaoyang District People's Hospital, Yiliang County People's Hospital, Pingchang County Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Yingshan County Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Ziyang County Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, and Hanyin County Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital) as the research objects to collect basic information of pregnant women. WHOQOL-BREF scale was used to investigate the quality of life of pregnant women. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to explore the influencing factors of each dimension of the quality of life score.

A total of 3 294 questionnaires were included, with a valid questionnaire rate of 98.94%. The average WHOQOL-BREF score of pregnant women was (81.99±11.01) points, and the social relation score was the highest among the 4 dimensions [ (69.13±12.46) points] , followed by the psychological dimension score [ (66.99±12.59) points] , physiological dimension score [ (65.40±12.62) points] , environmental dimension score [ (65.02±12.11) points] . Stratified comparison results showed that there were statistically significant differences in the scores of physiological dimension, psychological dimension, social relation dimension and environmental dimension among pregnant women of different ages, total annual income levels, places of residence, education levels and occupations (P<0.05) . The difference was statistically significant in psychological dimension score when comparing pregnant women with different preconception BMI (P<0.05) . There were significant differences in the scores of psychological dimension and environmental dimension of pregnant women with weight gain during different gestation periods (P<0.05) . The scores of psychological dimension, social relation dimension and environmental dimension of pregnant women with different medical insurance types were compared, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05) . The score of environmental dimension of parturients was significantly lower than that of parturients (P<0.05) . The scores of physiological dimension, psychological dimension and environmental dimension of pregnant women with exercise habit were higher than those of pregnant women without exercise habit, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05) . The results of multiple linear regression analysis showed that age, exercise habit, education level and occupation were the influencing factors of physiological dimension score (P<0.05) . Age, pre-pregnancy BMI, family history, exercise habits, education level and medical insurance type were the influencing factors of psychological dimension score (P<0.05) . Age and exercise habit were the influencing factors of social relation dimension score (P<0.05) . Family history, weight gain during pregnancy, exercise habits, residence type, occupation, total annual income level and medical insurance type were the influencing factors of environmental dimension score (P<0.05) .

There is still much room for improvement in the quality of life of pregnant women in rural areas of China. In addition to individual factors such as age, parity, social factors such as place of residence and health insurance coverage are also significant influencing factors, improvement from the social perspective remains a priority for maternal and child health care in the future.