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

Emma Hodgkinson, Debbie Smith, Douglas Hare, Anja Wittkowski*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)392-400
Number of pages9
JournalClinical Psychology & Psychotherapy
Volume24
Issue number2
Early online date3 Mar 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016

Keywords

  • body mass index
  • midwives
  • pregnancy
  • repertory grid technique
  • women

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