title: Social support and postpartum African American women.
abstract: The birth of the first child is a major transitional period for the new mother and her family. Social support that women receive seems to buffer the changes experienced during the postpartum period. However, very little is written about the social support of postpartum African American women. The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the difference between social support expected prenatally, and that actually received postpartally in African American primiparous women. Data were collected utilizing a modified version of the Postpartum Social Support Questionnaire. Findings revealed no significant differences in the social support expected, and what was actually received postpartally. This sample was somewhat unique in that the women were educated with at least a high school education, with a mean age of 25, and possessed health insurance (access to health care). Future research utilizing the tool with larger samples should be conducted to further validate the reliability and validity of the tool.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306-4310, USA.
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Amankwaa
authors.forename: D I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Frank
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D004522:Educational Status; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D010298:Parity; D010865:Pilot Projects; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000523:psychology*; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012944:Social Support; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014930:Women / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*