Exploring the nutritional beliefs of pregnant women in Yazd city

INTRODUCTION: During the pregnancy, a woman as a healthy person grows another human being in her body and needs more cares due to changes in psychological and physical needs. This study aimed to explore the nutritional beliefs of pregnant women in Yazd city. METHODS: This was a qualitative study conducted with a conventional content analysis approach. A total of 12 participants were selected from women referred to the community health centers in Yazd, Iran, by the purposeful sampling method. Data were collected through recorded semi-structured interviews that were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by the Lundman and Granheim’s content analysis method. RESULTS: In this study, after analyzing the data, 10 main categories and 26 subcategories were extracted. The codes were 446 cases with no overlap, which was reduced after careful review and integration of similar items. Topics of categories included: The concept of nutrition during pregnancy, Nutrition limitations during pregnancy, Myths about food during pregnancy, Doubts about nutrition during pregnancy, Pregnancy food style, Sources of nutritional information in pregnancy, Positive Consequences of Healthy Nutrition in Pregnancy, Consequences of inappropriate pregnancy nutrition, Religious Beliefs in Pregnancy Nutrition, social support. CONCLUSION: The results indicated that the women were committed to their own nutritional beliefs that derive from their culture and this study provided a clear picture of the cultural beliefs of Yazdi women regarding pregnancy nutrition. According to the results, it is necessary to design the education process based on the culture of the community in order for that process to be effective.