Objective: The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand the pregnant and postpartum experiences of Black women in the United States to inform the development of a web-based mobile tool.
Methods: Participants were recruited through Facebook Groups. There were a total of 19 women that participated in one of five focus group discussions. Participants ranged from being in their 3rd trimester of pregnancy through 6 months postpartum. Thematic content analysis was performed to identify emerging themes.
Results: Four themes emerged from the focus group discussions: beliefs about postpartum motherhood, experiences during pregnancy, experiences of the postpartum period, and tool recommendations. Key results from these themes demonstrated the difficulties that women faced in having their concerns resolved by healthcare professionals, receiving adequate educational and social support during the COVID-19 pandemic, and having adequate information to help breastfeed and cope with changes they experienced throughout the postpartum period.
Conclusion: The results highlight the difficulties that Black women experienced throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period. The main findings show that women lacked support in receiving information about the postpartum period, had their concerns dismissed by healthcare professionals, and received inadequate support. These findings can inform the practice of healthcare professionals and inform the development of other non-clinical, digital resources to fill in these gaps. Future research in this area is planned to further develop and pilot the tool among a broader population of women.
What is already known on this subject? The rate of Black women experiencing pregnancy-related deaths in the United States continues to increase. Several factors, such as discrimination and difficulty accessing healthcare contribute to racial inequities in maternal health outcomes. What this study adds? The results demonstrated how Black women experienced difficulties in having their concerns resolved by healthcare professionals. Additionally, the results highlight the lack of information available to help navigate the postpartum period. The COVID-19 pandemic affected support and preparation levels. These findings can inform the creation of non-clinical, digital resources and guidance delivered by obstetrician-gynecologists, midwives, and doulas.
Keywords: Fourth Trimester; Health Disparities; Maternal Health; Postpartum; Pregnancy.
© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.