The aim of this study is to examine the ways in which expectant mothers who have had an unintended pregnancy make sense of pregnancy and motherhood, and to try to draw a picture from the perspective of the psychology of religion by considering the religious, spiritual and psychological aspects of their experiences during this critical period in the transition to motherhood. In this qualitative field study, phenomenological approach was employed with conducting semi-structured interviews with 25 married Muslim women, 12 of whom are actively working, majority of them have completed undergraduate and graduate education and whose ages varies from 21 to 38 (mean 28.7), selected by snowball and criterion sampling tapproaches of purposeful sampling methods, 11 of them had their first pregnancy, 6 of them had their second pregnancy, 7 of them had their third pregnancy and 1 had their fourth pregnancy. The results obtained from descriptive and content analysis have indicated that women who experienced unintended pregnancy use religious and spiritual coping methods to combat the emotional intensity they experience (i), and they need moral support from both their family and social circles and professionals in this field (ii). In addition, while the sub-theme of "surprise and shock" was dominant in the emotional states of the participants when they first learnt about their pregnancy (iii), the concept they described most intensely in the way they made sense of motherhood was the sub-theme of "responsibility" (iv). The sub-themes of "economic status" and "relationship with her spouse" came to the fore in the list of reasons that affect the descision of mother-to-be about giving birth to her baby (v).
Primary Language | Turkish |
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Journal Section | Articles |
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Publication Date | December 25, 2021 |
Published in Issue | Year 2021 Volume: 19 Issue: 42 |