title: Women's Desire for Pregnancy.
abstract: Descriptive qualitative interviews were conducted with 16 women who had given birth in the previous 5 years to identify factors that influenced their desire to become pregnant. All interviews were audiotaped. Following the interviews, the texts were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using Giorgi's method. Five themes emerged from the interviews: (1) timing; (2) spacing; (3) meeting personal criteria; (4) desire for the experience of pregnancy, birth, and parenting; and (5) extended family in close proximity. The study's findings offer an initial step in understanding the attitudes, motivations, and beliefs of healthy childbearing women and their desire for pregnancy. Increased understanding may help health-care providers develop interventions that not only assist women to conceive as desired but also prevent unplanned pregnancies.
authors.affiliation: KRISTEN S. MONTGOMERY is an assistant professor in the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. When this article was written, TRACIE GREEN, BARBARA MAHER, KIMBERLY TIPTON, CORRINNA O'BANNON, TERI MURPHY, TROY McCURRY, LORETTA SHAFFER, and SONYA BEST were students in the Master of Science in Nursing program in the College of Nursing at the University of South Carolina. ELIZABETH HATMAKER-FLANIGAN is a doctoral student in health services in the College of Health and Human Services at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
authors.forename: Kristen S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Montgomery
authors.forename: Tracie
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maher
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tipton
authors.forename: Corrinna
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: O'Bannon
authors.forename: Teri
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: Troy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: McCurry
authors.forename: Loretta
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shaffer
authors.forename: Sonya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Best
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hatmaker-Flanigan