"I'm used to doing it by myself": exploring self-reliance in pregnancy. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • BACKGROUND: Self-reliance (the need to rely on one's own efforts and abilities) is cited as a potential coping strategy for decreased or absent social support during pregnancy. Little data exists on how women view self-reliance in pregnancy. METHODS: We recruited women from urban, walk-in pregnancy testing clinics from June 2014-June 2015. Women aged 16 to 44 and at less than 24 weeks gestational age were eligible. Participants completed an enrollment survey and in-person, semi-structured interviews. We used framework analysis to identify key concepts and assess thematic relationships. RESULTS: Eighty-four English-speaking women completed qualitative interviews. Participants averaged 26 years of age and 7 weeks estimated gestational age. Most identified as Black (54%) or Hispanic (20%), were unemployed or homemakers (52%), unmarried (92%), and had at least one child (67%). Most did not intend to get pregnant (61%) and planned to continue their pregnancy and parent (65%). We identified self-reliance as a prevalent concept that almost half (48%) of participants discussed in relationship to their pregnancy. Self-reliance in pregnancy consisted of several subthemes: 1) past experiences, 2) expectations of motherhood, 3) financial independence, 4) decision making, and 5) parenting. CONCLUSIONS: Self-reliance is an important aspect of women's reproductive lives and is threaded through women's past and current thoughts, feelings, experiences and decisions about pregnancy. Women's belief in their own self-reliance as well as a recognition of the limits of self-reliance merits further research, especially as a potential strategy to cope with decreased or absent social support during pregnancy.

publication date

  • October 5, 2018

Research

keywords

  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnant Women
  • Self Efficacy
  • Social Support

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC6173858

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 85054430749

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1001/jama.2017.8390

PubMed ID

  • 30290785

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 18

issue

  • 1