Despite some progress in raising awareness among women of the need of leading a healthy lifestyle during pregnancy, there hasn’t been much of an improvement in actual pregnancy outcomes or long-term health outcomes. This may be due to the fact that improved awareness, as opposed to improved knowledge of a cause-effect link, includes an emotional and volitional change that may result in altered health behavior. The former strategy just yields cognitive benefits.
However, some healthy practices are just out of reach for particular societal groups due to social or economic barriers, and women do not view health in the same way that their healthcare professionals (HCPs) do. Understanding what health implies as a result.
The current study was based on 20 pregnant women who visited an urban women’s health clinic in the middle of their pregnancy or later, with 70% of them being unmarried single mothers and 60% reporting a low income (less than USD $20,000). Just 40% of them were first-time mothers, all had singleton pregnancies, and none had high-risk pregnancies.
The data demonstrates that physical health alone is insufficient for pregnant women to feel well during pregnancy. People must feel supported, have a sense of emotional well-being, and be financially secure. The authors define Deep Health as “an embodied sense of happiness, vitality, stability, and purpose (Being) supported by positive health practices (Doing) and appropriate financial and social resources (Having)” as the result of the interaction of these elements.
Women said they thought of the Being aspect of health in terms of happiness, hope, resilience, social connectedness, physical and mental activity, and energy. Conversely, nausea, tiredness, uncertainty, anger, panic, or fear associated with pregnancy were viewed negatively. Some used substance abuse as a temporary coping mechanism, but without complete self-agreement. Some women stuck to rehabilitation programs mainly because of their love and concern for the developing baby.
This theme was identified as a component of health during pregnancy by younger, first-time mothers.
