Experiences of women about pregnancy in the 3rd
outpatient-antenatal care clinic, Zeynep Kamil Maternity Hospital, Istanbul,
Turkey
Sanda Cali, Yucel Gurbuz, Ayse Nilufer Ozaydin, Elif Akin, Arzu Oz, and
Ayse Selcen Tellioglu
Marmara University, School of Medicine, Public Health
Department, Istanbul, Turkey
Objectives To define how the women aware of their
own pregnancies, to define how the women are sure from their own pregnancies and
to define when the women are first suspicious of pregnancies.
Methods This study
is a descriptive study. It was carried out the 3rd outpatient-antenatal care
clinic, Zeynep Kamil Maternity Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey in October 2005. The
3rd unit was selected randomly among all outpatient clinics because of the
limited resources. All women came into the 3rd clinic during the study period
were invited to the study (n=224). Only two women did not accepted interview. A
structured questionnaire was filled in for each voluntary woman during the face
to face interview session before the examination of the clinic physicians
(n=222).
Collected data was analyzed in SPSS 11.05. During study period, time to time,
few women had difficulty in expressing their feelings, experiences and beliefs
about symptoms of pregnancy.
Results Average age of interviewed women was 27.2 +
5.4 years (median age: 26.4). Whereas 38% of women was in ‘25–29’ age
group, only 2% of women was in ‘40+’ and 5% of women was in ‘15–19’
age group. Half of the study population graduated from the primary school
(56.8%). Three percent of women were illiterate and 10% of them had university
level education. Most of the women interviewed did not work aside from their own
housework (86.9%). Twelve percent of women did not any social-health insurance.
The first marriage age of study population was 21.5 + 3.6 years and the first
pregnancy age of them was 22.5 + 3.7 years as an average. The percentage of
interviewed women who has first pregnancy in their life was 42. Thirteen percent
of study population was in the first trimester, 30.2% was in second and 56.8%
was in the third trimester of pregnancies.
Over the half of the interviewed
women believed that women can be sure own pregnancy without any tests (58.6%).
This belief did not change according to the number of the pregnancy and the
number of the living children (chi-square: 3.332, P>0.05; chi-square: 0.859,
P>0.05).
The
definite time which women were sure about own pregnancy without any tests 5.8 +
3.3 week as an average. Only 9.5% of study population were over 10 weeks of
pregnancy. The first clue, experience about pregnancies were stated that
menstrual delay by 72.5% of women. Later, according to the frequency order,
dyspepsia (41.9%), dizziness (17.1%), weakness (16.2%), change of appetite
(7.7%), change of sleeping habits (5.9%), change of breasts (4.1%), change of
mood (3.6%), feeling as different than usual (2.3%) and change of blood pressure
(1.4%) were expressed by study population. The interviewed women declared that
‘physician’s examination’ was the most valid way for confirmation of
pregnancy (35.1%). ‘Blood and urine tests’ as second, only blood test or
only USG as third, only urine test as fourth were selected. Lastly,
‘subjective symptoms of women’ were defined the least valid approach for
pregnancy confirmation (62.1%).
Conclusions Although there are some similar
symptoms and findings to diagnose a pregnancy, the style of inventing the
pregnancy in their own body is different for each woman. The process of
awareness of pregnancy is a complex event. The healthy maternal behaviours and
antenatal care can be start as early as it is diagnosed.