Women's experiences of being in high-risk antenatal care day stay and hospital admission

Abstract

For women with complicated pregnancies, pregnancy day stay units and contemporary in-hospital care are less restrictive on their lives and mobility than the traditional antenatal bed rest models of the past. A study, replicating previous work, was undertaken to provide a framework for care of women in these contemporary models of care. A longitudinal phenomenological inquiry during the antenatal period of their complicated pregnancy revealed that waiting is central to the women's experience regardless of model of care. Women with complicated pregnancies are embedded in their own anxiety and surrounded by the anxiety of others. Variation between the two contemporary models of care occurred within three dimensions of the experience — impact on well-being, relationship changes, and disruption to life.