Knowledge Valuation by Iranian Women with High-Risk Pregnancy: A Qualitative Content Analysis

Abstract

Background: Gaining adequate knowledge about high-risk pregnancy (HRP) and correctunderstanding of the condition, empowers women to improve the use of prenatal care, practice betterself-care, and reduce the risk of pregnancy complications. The present study aimed to assess thevaluation of knowledge by Iranian women with HRP.Methods: The present qualitative study was conducted on 25 women with HRP from August 2017to August 2018 at various educational hospitals in Mashhad, Iran. The data were collected throughin-depth semi-structured interviews. The data collection process continued until data saturation.The data were analyzed using the conventional content analysis method and MAXQDA software(version10.0). Data collection and data analysis were conducted concurrently.Results: Based on the analysis of the interviews, two main categories and eight sub-categories wereextracted. The main categories were “Positive valuation of credible problem-relevant knowledge” and“Avoidance of misleading and stressful information”. The results showed that various factors had apositive impact on knowledge gathering, namely personal and other people’s experiences, obtainingneed-based information, sympathetic advice from others, and faith-based health recommendations.On the other hand, factors that had a negative impact were related to the type of information thatcaused stress, was unreliable, inefficient or incompatible with personal goals.Conclusion: The findings of the present study would help health care providers to offer suitable andempathetic counseling to women with HRP. Providing valid and accessible sources of information willlead to faster and timely referrals of such patients.

Keywords

• high-risk pregnancy
• knowledge
• valuation