@article{3397f4b16ded44b4a79c48b45a1de3e4,
title = "The Construal of Midwives by Pregnant Women with a Body Mass Index Greater Than or Equal to 30 kg/m2 (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2): A repertory grid study",
abstract = "Objective: To explore the construal of midwives by pregnant women with a body mass index greater than 30 kg/m2 (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2).Method: Ten pregnant women with a BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 were recruited from antenatal clinics at a maternity hospital in the North West of England. Each participant completed a repertory grid. The participants chose people to match roles including themselves, pregnant women, midwives of different BMIs and hypothetical elements. They also generated psychological constructs to describe them.Results: Pregnant women with a BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 construed themselves as vulnerable and self-conscious. Some women endorsed obesity-related stereotypes for themselves and felt responsible for their weight. The midwife with a BMI 18 < 30 kg/m2 was considered to be most similar to the ideal midwife, while the midwife with a BMI ≤ 18 kg/m2 was construed as having an undesirable interpersonal style. The midwife with a BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2 was often construed as sharing similar experiences to the pregnant women with a BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2, such as struggling with the psychological consequences of a raised BMI. Some women construed the midwife with a BMI 30 < 40 kg/m2 in a positive way, whereas others viewed it as sharing similar feelings about weight as the midwife with a BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2.Conclusions: The pregnant women with a BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 in this study described perceptions of themselves and the midwives responsible for their care, which may affect their engagement and satisfaction with services. Pregnant women with a BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 should be involved in service development activities to ensure the structure of services and the language used by midwives are acceptable and do not confirm weight-related stereotypes. ",
keywords = "body mass index, midwives, pregnancy, repertory grid technique, women",
author = "Emma Hodgkinson and Debbie Smith and Douglas Hare and Anja Wittkowski",
year = "2016",
doi = "10.1002/cpp.2009",
language = "English",
volume = "24",
pages = "392--400",
journal = "Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy",
issn = "1063-3995",
publisher = "John Wiley & Sons Ltd",
number = "2",
}