The limbo of motherhood: Women's experiences of major challenges to cope with the first pregnancy

Introduction: pregnancy is a unique health experience which is influenced by various factors, particularly culture and social context. Aim of study: to explore women's perception regarding major challenges of adaptation with first pregnancy based on culture and social context. Design: a qualitative content analysis was used for data gathering and analysis. Data were collected through unstructured in-depth interviews. Setting: the study was conducted in public health clinics in Hamadan city, an urban area in southwest of Iran from July to December 2016. Participants: nineteen healthy primigravidas were recruited using a purposive sampling method and interviewed in the third trimester of pregnancy. Findings: the two main categories extracted: imposing the motherhood role on oneself and negative feelings toward pregnancy. The feeling of being in limbo during pregnancy suggests that the everyday experiences of the participants were filled with challenges and short-term tensions, fears, and limitations of pregnancy overwhelmed the participants with negative feelings. As a result, they experienced doubt due to their inexperience in the acceptance of the responsibility of pregnancy and motherhood. Key conclusions and implications for practice: one of the challenges of adaptation to pregnancy is the experience of negative feelings toward physiological changes and sense of uncertainty toward accepting motherhood responsibilities. Thus, the provision of suitable interventions during the prenatal period to reduce negative feelings and improve women's self-sufficiency in adaptation to pregnancy seems necessary.