Practicing maternal virtues prematurely: The phenomenology of maternal identity in medically high-risk pregnancy.

In this study, we examine the phenomenology of maternal identity development among U.S. women hospitalized with medically high-risk pregnancies (MHRP). We conducted 16 in-depth interviews with women and found that they drew on culturally normative notions of maternal nurture, worry, and sacrifice to construct maternal identity in the context of MHRP. Based on our findings, we suggest that MHRP shape women's sense of connection to and distinctive cognitive representations of their fetus. We conclude that hospitalization simultaneously promotes and challenges women's early maternal identifications.