The spiritual experience of high-risk pregnancy.
OBJECTIVE
To uncover the spiritual beliefs and practices of women experiencing high-risk pregnancies.


METHODS
Qualitative, naturalistic inquiry via face-to-face, semistructured interviews, with thematic analysis of interview transcripts.


METHODS
A prenatal special care unit of a tertiary health centre.


METHODS
A purposeful sample of 12 women admitted for high-risk pregnancy complications.


RESULTS
Analysis of the women's interviews uncovered the following themes: high-risk pregnancy as a challenge, seeking a spiritual language, what makes you who you are, and everything will be OK.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings from this study highlight that within the challenges of a high-risk pregnancy, the women often struggled to define their spirituality yet recognized spiritual expression as key to their health and healing. Each woman identified aspects of their spirituality that enabled them and their families to deal with the stress of their high-risk pregnancy experience, which they believed enhanced outcomes for themselves and their unborn child.
Price
Sheri
S
Research associate with Interdisciplinary Research at IWK Health Centre, adjunct faculty with School of Nursing, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and a PhD student (Nursing) at the Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.. Electronic address: sheri.price@iwk.nshealth.ca.
Lake
Margaret
M
Spiritual Health at the IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Breen
Glenn
G
Spiritual Health at the IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Carson
Glenda
G
IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and PhD student (Nursing) at the Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Quinn
Colleen
C
Spiritual Health at the IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
O'Connor
Thomas
T
Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002170:Canada; D002835:Christianity / Q000523:psychology; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006694:Holistic Health; D006801:Humans; D024802:Nurse's Role; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000523:psychology*; D018566:Pregnancy, High-Risk / Q000523:psychology*; D037841:Pregnant People / Q000523:psychology*; D011295:Prenatal Care; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D012660:Semantics; D029181:Spirituality; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires