Joung Woo Joung
Kyungpook National University, South Korea
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Primary Health Care
There has been increasing awareness of epilepsy risk in pregnancy and childbirth among health professionals, but these womenâ??s perspective has not been previously studied. This study is to understand and describe pregnancy and childbirth experiences of women with epilepsy. Data were collected from 2016-2017 through in-depth interviews with women with epilepsy who experienced childbirth within 36 months. Verbatim transcripts were analyzed following Colaizziâ??s phenomenological analysis to uncover the meaning of the experiences of participants. The pregnancy and childbirth experiences of women with epilepsy were clustered into six theme clusters and 14 themes from 28 meaning units: (1) Overwhelmed with anxiety regarding possible abnormalities in baby, (2) taken back by unexpected change in seizure severity and frequency, (3) struggling with the decision to breastfeed, (4) increasing worry about passing down the disease, (5) management of the burdens of both childcare and seizure control, and (6) the rewards of childbirth for a woman with epilepsy. Participants faced various physical and emotional hardships related to their illness during pregnancy and childbirth. Advice from health professionals and support from family members were essential to overcome these hardships. Participants also gained insight into their illness and better understanding of the importance of maintaining their health to the welfare of child through the transition period of pregnancy and childbirth. Health professionals should work collaboratively to provide more concerted opinions for these women to make sound decisions in every step of this period and should be active partners in planning and caring for mothers and children after birth.
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