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Pregnant Women’s Experiences during Hurricane Maria: Impact, Personal Meaning, and Health Care Needs

During a disaster, pregnant women are considered among the most vulnerable. Background: On 20 September 2017, the Caribbean was hit by a category 4 hurricane. The purpose of the study was to explore the impact on pregnant women during and after the hurricane regarding access to health care, social s...

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Autores principales: Silva-Suarez, Georgina, Rabionet, Silvia E., Zorrilla, Carmen D., Perez-Menendez, Hulda, Rivera-Leon, Solaritza
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8394861/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34444290
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168541
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author Silva-Suarez, Georgina
Rabionet, Silvia E.
Zorrilla, Carmen D.
Perez-Menendez, Hulda
Rivera-Leon, Solaritza
author_facet Silva-Suarez, Georgina
Rabionet, Silvia E.
Zorrilla, Carmen D.
Perez-Menendez, Hulda
Rivera-Leon, Solaritza
author_sort Silva-Suarez, Georgina
collection PubMed
description During a disaster, pregnant women are considered among the most vulnerable. Background: On 20 September 2017, the Caribbean was hit by a category 4 hurricane. The purpose of the study was to explore the impact on pregnant women during and after the hurricane regarding access to health care, social services, and support systems. Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted to 10 women that were pregnant during the event. Qualitative inquiry based on the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis framework was used to interpret the narratives. Results: Five major themes emerged: meaning of living through a disaster, fear, the dual burden of protecting themselves and their unborn baby, disruption in health care, and coping mechanisms. Despite the negative feelings, most participants experienced positive transformations. They narrated how they stayed calm and coped in order to protect their pregnancy. Their overall evaluation of the healthcare system was positive. The support of friends and family was crucial pre and post-disaster. Conclusions: The interviews provided a wealth of firsthand information of women experiencing a natural disaster while pregnant. The findings underscore the need to incorporate emotional support in the preparedness and response plans for pregnant women. Educating, empowering, and incorporating families and communities is vital in these efforts.
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spelling pubmed-83948612021-08-28 Pregnant Women’s Experiences during Hurricane Maria: Impact, Personal Meaning, and Health Care Needs Silva-Suarez, Georgina Rabionet, Silvia E. Zorrilla, Carmen D. Perez-Menendez, Hulda Rivera-Leon, Solaritza Int J Environ Res Public Health Study Protocol During a disaster, pregnant women are considered among the most vulnerable. Background: On 20 September 2017, the Caribbean was hit by a category 4 hurricane. The purpose of the study was to explore the impact on pregnant women during and after the hurricane regarding access to health care, social services, and support systems. Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted to 10 women that were pregnant during the event. Qualitative inquiry based on the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis framework was used to interpret the narratives. Results: Five major themes emerged: meaning of living through a disaster, fear, the dual burden of protecting themselves and their unborn baby, disruption in health care, and coping mechanisms. Despite the negative feelings, most participants experienced positive transformations. They narrated how they stayed calm and coped in order to protect their pregnancy. Their overall evaluation of the healthcare system was positive. The support of friends and family was crucial pre and post-disaster. Conclusions: The interviews provided a wealth of firsthand information of women experiencing a natural disaster while pregnant. The findings underscore the need to incorporate emotional support in the preparedness and response plans for pregnant women. Educating, empowering, and incorporating families and communities is vital in these efforts. MDPI 2021-08-12 /pmc/articles/PMC8394861/ /pubmed/34444290 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168541 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Study Protocol
Silva-Suarez, Georgina
Rabionet, Silvia E.
Zorrilla, Carmen D.
Perez-Menendez, Hulda
Rivera-Leon, Solaritza
Pregnant Women’s Experiences during Hurricane Maria: Impact, Personal Meaning, and Health Care Needs
title Pregnant Women’s Experiences during Hurricane Maria: Impact, Personal Meaning, and Health Care Needs
title_full Pregnant Women’s Experiences during Hurricane Maria: Impact, Personal Meaning, and Health Care Needs
title_fullStr Pregnant Women’s Experiences during Hurricane Maria: Impact, Personal Meaning, and Health Care Needs
title_full_unstemmed Pregnant Women’s Experiences during Hurricane Maria: Impact, Personal Meaning, and Health Care Needs
title_short Pregnant Women’s Experiences during Hurricane Maria: Impact, Personal Meaning, and Health Care Needs
title_sort pregnant women’s experiences during hurricane maria: impact, personal meaning, and health care needs
topic Study Protocol
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8394861/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34444290
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168541
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