Feelings toward body changes in pregnancy: Qualitative research

Background: Pregnancy is a period that significant changes occur in the body image of most pregnant women. These changes can have a lot of effects on mother’s and child’s health.Knowing about the experiences of women in this period yields a better understanding of their health conditions. So, it is essential to conduct a qualitative research to analyze their feelings and experiences about their bodies during pregnancy. The aim of this study was to explore the feelings toward body changes in pregnant women as one of the components of body image. Methods: This study was a qualitative study with content analysis approach. 18 pregnant women in the 11th to 38th week of pregnancy who were receiving prenatal examinations at clinics in medical Health centers in Isfahan, took part in semi-structured interviews concentrating on the women s reactions to the changes in their bodies. The duration of each interview was 30-45 minutes. The process of data collection continued until data saturation. Along with data collection and data analysis using qualitative content analysis was performed. In order to increase creditability trustworthiness, credibility, dependability, transferability and conformability criteria were used. Results: The findings of research were categorized in 450 codes which are classified in 13 sub subcategories as: negative feelings toward abdominal skin changes, negative feelings toward upper skin changes, dissatisfaction from changes in organs, negative feelings toward breast changes, draw attention to the abdomen, draw attention to the buttocks, ridiculous shape of the abdomen, , ridiculous shape of the lower body part, , ridiculous of the Walking pattern, Increase body size, Negative attitude towards obesity, big abdomen, obesity of upper body part and 5 subcategories as: negative feelings toward skin changes, feeling unfit, attention drawing bodyshape, ridiculous shape of the body, and obesity. The main category is feelings toward body changes Conclusion: According to our research findings, pregnant women experience various changes in their bodies and there are different reactions to these body changes. The attention of health care providers to these changes during pregnancy and providing pregnant women and her relatives with necessary training in this period can have significant effects on their mental health. Also the results of this research may help professionals to provide better social support and care forwomen.

Keywords:

Qualitative research , qualitative content analysis , body image , pregnancy