The high-risk mother viewed in relation to a holistic model of the childbearing experience.

The high-risk antepartal mother is, first, a woman facing the experience of childbearing and, second, a woman for whom this experience is defined as high risk. Too often, health professionals concentrate on the latter almost to the exclusion of the former. In this article a holistic model of the experience of childbearing, common to all women, is proposed. It takes into account relevant social, cultural, and psychological as well as physiological factors. The model is then related to specific problems that may threaten the successful outcome of pregnancy. Appropriate implications for nursing are also discussed.