Climate Change Awareness in Pregnant Women: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Objective: This study was conducted to determine the awareness of climate change in pregnant women. Methods: In this study, a qualitative research approach was adopted. A phenomenological research design was used to conduct the study. The research was carried out with pregnant women who applied to the pregnant outpatient clinic of Aydın Adnan Menderes University Hospital between 01.09.2022 and 15.09.2022. With qualitative research, a semi-structured interview form prepared by the researchers was used to determine the climate change awareness among pregnant women. A total of 12 pregnant women were interviewed by audio recording. Interviews were analyzed using the MAXQDA 2022 program. The thematic analysis of the interviews identified 6 main themes. While analyzing the data, descriptive analysis technique was used. This study was based on COREQ guidelines for reporting qualitative research. Results: It has been seen that most of pregnant women follow the news and developments about climate change occasionally. Pregnant women, who stated that the causes related to climate change are generally caused by humans, expressed the necessity of educating people and raising their awareness in taking precautions against climate change. It was found that the knowledge of pregnant women about the impact of climate change, which negatively affects health in many ways, on maternal and child health during pregnancy was incomplete and insufficient. Discussion: It was determined that the awareness of pregnant women about climate change was formed but was not sufficient. It is thought that the study will support the literature in raising awareness about climate change.