Body experience differences of women with pregnancy-induced hypertension.

Abstract

The author conducted this comparative study to better understand women's body experiences during pregnancies complicated by pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH). Specifically, the study sought to determine whether women who had PIH differed from women with normal pregnancies based on their descriptions and evaluations of weight, appetite, activity, and mood experiences for four sequential time intervals of pregnancy. Using a convenience sampling strategy and semistructured interview technique, data were collected from 38 women with PIH and 23 women with normal pregnancies. The body change data were analyzed using log-linear procedures with all statistical tests conducted at the p < .05 level. Study findings indicated the pregnancies of women with PIH differed from normal pregnancy. In the context of study findings, PIH pregnancy was explored as a consequence of (a) unmet maternal dependency needs, (b) the imposition of the childbearing developmental task on an unresolved adolescent developmental phase, and (c) the binding of maternal emotional distress through selective and often dependency-symbolic body change modes and responses.