Living With Fear: Experiences of Danish Parents in Vulnerable Positions During Pregnancy and in the Postnatal Period

Marianne Stistrup Frederiksen*, Virginia Schmied, Charlotte Overgaard

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Targeted services are recommended to pregnant women/parents in vulnerable positions to support their well-being and improve health outcomes; however, being offered extra services is associated with feelings of fear and anxiety. Adopting an ethnographic approach, we explore what parents fear, how and why they experience fear, and how this shapes their childbearing experience and engagement with Danish maternity care services. We made field observations and conducted interviews with 39 parents in vulnerable positions, who shared multiple, ambiguous, and interrelated fears. Four main themes were constructed: fear of going back to a dark place, of having a negative impact on the baby, of being labeled, and of the consequences of service engagement and being open. We conclude that what parents fear, the intensity of these fears, and what potentially triggers it are contingent on their life story, their care pathways, and the maternity care system.

Original languageEnglish
JournalQualitative Health Research
Volume31
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)564-577
Number of pages14
ISSN1049-7323
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2021
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was funded by a grant from Aalborg Municipality, Denmark, and Aalborg University, Denmark.

Keywords

  • Denmark
  • ethnographic fieldwork
  • fear
  • maternity care
  • Parents
  • psychosocial factors
  • qualitative
  • vulnerability

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