Antenatal Lived Experiences of Women who Delivered Preterm Babies at a Referral Hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe

Introduction: A lived experience is normally an undervalued and complex phenomena in nursing and midwifery despite its crucial influence on maternal and birth outcomes. During antenatal care, health care providers tend to concentrate on the pregnancy at the expense of experiences that women go through. Research studies have also bias towards the medical perspective leaving out the experiences that occur during the antenatal period.

Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the antenatal lived experiences of women who delivered preterm babies.

Study Design: A descriptive phenomenological research design was employed to understand the diverse antenatal lived experiences.

Setting and Duration: Parirenyatwa Mbuya Nehanda Maternity Hospital was the study site.

Methodology: All accessible women who delivered preterm babies between October, 2016 and March, 2017 with babies admitted in neonatal intensive care unit, Kangaroo care unit and those coming to preterm outpatient clinic were included in this study. Purposive sampling method was used to select the eligible participants. Audio recorded in-depth interviews using semi-structured interview guide were used to collect data. Thematic analysis was used to analyze data manually.

Results: Eleven women participated in this study. Their ages ranged from 17 to 42 years. The lowest level of education was primary (9%, n = 1) and highest being secondary (91%, n = 10). Three major themes came out, which included stressful life events, perceived mismanagement of physical problems and care and support. Support during antenatal period is crucial as it helps pregnant women to adjust and cope with life stressors and it helps them to have a smooth journey of pregnancy which leads to a healthy pregnancy outcome.

Conclusion: Pregnant women are experiencing a variety of stressful life events. A holistic individualized approach comprising comprehensive history on experiences during pregnancy should be adopted to capture and detect adverse health symptoms early.