Sheri Price1, Margaret Lake2, Glenn Breen2, Glenda Carson3, Colleen Quinn2, Thomas O'Connor4. 1. Research associate with Interdisciplinary Research at IWK Health Centre, adjunct faculty with School of Nursing, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and a PhD student (Nursing) at the Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.. Electronic address: sheri.price@iwk.nshealth.ca. 2. Spiritual Health at the IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. 3. IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and PhD student (Nursing) at the Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. 4. Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To uncover the spiritual beliefs and practices of women experiencing high-risk pregnancies. DESIGN: Qualitative, naturalistic inquiry via face-to-face, semistructured interviews, with thematic analysis of interview transcripts. SETTING: A prenatal special care unit of a tertiary health centre. PARTICIPANTS: A purposeful sample of 12 women admitted for high-risk pregnancy complications. RESULTS: Analysis of the women's interviews uncovered the following themes: high-risk pregnancy as a challenge, seeking a spiritual language, what makes you who you are, and everything will be OK. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study highlight that within the challenges of a high-risk pregnancy, the women often struggled to define their spirituality yet recognized spiritual expression as key to their health and healing. Each woman identified aspects of their spirituality that enabled them and their families to deal with the stress of their high-risk pregnancy experience, which they believed enhanced outcomes for themselves and their unborn child.
OBJECTIVE: To uncover the spiritual beliefs and practices of women experiencing high-risk pregnancies. DESIGN: Qualitative, naturalistic inquiry via face-to-face, semistructured interviews, with thematic analysis of interview transcripts. SETTING: A prenatal special care unit of a tertiary health centre. PARTICIPANTS: A purposeful sample of 12 women admitted for high-risk pregnancy complications. RESULTS: Analysis of the women's interviews uncovered the following themes: high-risk pregnancy as a challenge, seeking a spiritual language, what makes you who you are, and everything will be OK. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study highlight that within the challenges of a high-risk pregnancy, the women often struggled to define their spirituality yet recognized spiritual expression as key to their health and healing. Each woman identified aspects of their spirituality that enabled them and their families to deal with the stress of their high-risk pregnancy experience, which they believed enhanced outcomes for themselves and their unborn child.
Authors: Sarah Guerra Seth; Thomas Goka; Andrea Harbison; Lisa Hollier; Susan Peterson; Lois Ramondetta; Sarah Jane Noblin Journal: J Genet Couns Date: 2011-06-22 Impact factor: 2.537