“I just feel like I am broken. I am the worst pregnant woman ever”: A qualitative exploration of the “at odds” experience of women's antenatal distress

Aleksandra A. Staneva*, Fiona Bogossian, Alina Morawska, Anja Wittkowski

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Advances in perinatal mental health research have provided valuable insights around risk factors for the overall development of maternal distress. However, there is still a limited understanding of the experience of women struggling emotionally during pregnancy. We explored how women view, experience, and interpret psychological distress antenatally. Eighteen Australian women participated in in-depth interviews that were analyzed thematically within a critical realist theoretical framework. We present and situate the current findings within the dominant discourse of the good mother, which arguably promotes guilt and stigma and results in women self-labeling as bad mothers.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)658-686
Number of pages29
JournalHealth Care for Women International
Volume38
Issue number6
Early online date20 Mar 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

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