Research Unit for Dietary Studies, the Parker Institute, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital, Denmark; Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Copenhagen University Hospital, Hvidovre, Denmark.
Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Copenhagen University Hospital, Hvidovre, Denmark.
Midwifery. 2022 Sep;112:103421. doi: 10.1016/j.midw.2022.103421. Epub 2022 Jul 2.
Becoming a mother is one of the most transitional experiences in life. It requires psychological, physical, and social adjustment and adaptation in various areas and can be conceived as both a stressful and joyful experience by many women. Especially, first-time pregnancies are recognised as a period of emotional sensitivity. Moreover, stress is a well-established risk factor for premature birth and low birth weight and might affect the health of the offspring. Thus, this study explores the perception of stress and worries in healthy Danish pregnant nulliparous women.
We used a qualitative, inductive, exploratory design. Three focus group interviews were conducted with 16 healthy pregnant nulliparous women. Data from the focus group interviews were analysed using content analysis according to Graneheim and Lundman.
Three main categories contributed to the core theme "Identity Limbo". The categories were: (1) The great responsibility, (2) Imagining picture-perfect, and (3) Two-in-one body. The participants expressed that holding on to their current identity was extremely important. They simultaneously tried to incorporate their new identity as mothers, which imposed sadness about saying goodbye to their old life, leaving them in an identity limbo. These women did not experience classic stressors such as bereavement, poverty, or trauma. Still, the great responsibility for the child's future, changes to their work and career, and saying goodbye to their pre-pregnancy identity were all essential contributors to feelings of stress in the women's current pregnancy and life.
Our findings suggest that the identity limbo triggered by pregnancy can make the transition to motherhood stressful for some women. Therefore, with the potentially severe consequences of stress in mind, developing tools that can help women and midwives focus on the mental transition of pregnancy is needed.
成为母亲是人生中最具转折性的经历之一。它需要在心理、生理和社会等各个方面进行调整和适应，可以被许多女性视为一种充满压力和喜悦的体验。特别是，初次怀孕被认为是一个情绪敏感的时期。此外，压力是早产和低出生体重的公认风险因素，可能会影响后代的健康。因此，本研究探讨了健康的丹麦初产妇的压力和担忧感。
我们采用了定性、归纳、探索性设计。对 16 名健康的初产妇进行了 3 次焦点小组访谈。根据 Graneheim 和 Lundman 的方法，对焦点小组访谈的数据进行了内容分析。
三个主要类别促成了核心主题“身份困境”。这些类别是：（1）巨大的责任，（2）想象完美，（3）一体双生。参与者表示，坚持当前的身份极其重要。她们同时试图融入新的母亲身份，这让她们对告别过去的生活感到悲伤，使她们陷入身份困境。这些女性没有经历过丧亲、贫困或创伤等经典压力源。尽管如此，对孩子未来的巨大责任、工作和职业的变化，以及对怀孕前身份的告别，都是导致这些女性在当前怀孕和生活中感到压力的重要因素。
我们的研究结果表明，怀孕引发的身份困境可能会使一些女性在过渡到母亲身份时感到压力。因此，考虑到压力可能产生的严重后果，需要开发一些工具来帮助女性和助产士关注怀孕的心理转变。
