(2014) "Living each week as unique" : maternal fears in Assisted Reproductive Technology pregnancies. Midwifery, 30 (3). e115-e120.
Permanent WRAP url:http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/49817
Copyright and reuse:The Warwick Research Archive Portal (WRAP) makes this work by researchers of the University of Warwick available open access under the following conditions. Copyright © and all moral rights to the version of the paper presented here belong to the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. To the extent reasonable and practicable the material made available in WRAP has been checked for eligibility before being made available.Copies of full items can be used for personal research or study, educational, or not-forprofit purposes without prior permission or charge. Provided that the authors, title and full bibliographic details are credited, a hyperlink and/or URL is given for the original metadata page and the content is not changed in any way.
A note on versions:The version presented here may differ from the published version or, version of record, if you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the 'permanent WRAP url' above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription.For more information, please contact the WRAP Team at: publications@warwick.ac.uk 1 Abstract INTRODUCTION: During pregnancy, expectant mothers may experience fears relating to various factors. Following stressful experiences of infertility and treatment, Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) mothers may be particularly susceptible to fears during pregnancy. PURPOSE: This paper uses a qualitative approach to explore these fears following conception using ART. METHODS: Nineteen expectant first-time mothers were administered a semi-structured interview during the third trimester of their pregnancy. Interviews assessed perceptions of and feelings about pregnancy, and were analysed using content analysis. MAIN FINDINGS: Data were categorized into themes and subthemes with four overarching themes emerging: the baby's survival, the health of the baby, the efficacy of the mother, and the physical delivery of the baby. Of these, the most commonly reported fears were related to miscarriage or fetal death, and to the baby being born with an abnormality. CONCLUSIONS: In spite of expressing some fears that can be also seen in spontaneous pregnancy, women who conceived after ART report some fears that are more specific to this context, such as miscarriage or fetal death. Limitations of this study include not considering the partner's experience, and that the qualitative approach limits generalisability. However, results suggest that the concerns reported could be taken into consideration when providing psychological support for ART mothers.