Pregnancy and parenting experiences of women with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome: a qualitative study

• Published in: BMC pregnancy and childbirth Vol. 21; no. 1; pp. 595 - 8
• Main Authors: Ren, Lijie, Song, Cancan, Xia, Chunling, Wang, Nan, Yang, Yan, Yin, Shaowei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central 03.09.2021; Springer Nature B.V; BMC
• Subjects: Adult; Amniotic fluid; Attitude to Health; Child & adolescent mental health; Child care; China; Data analysis; Data collection; Decision making; Families & family life; Female; Fetofetal Transfusion - psychology; Gynecology; Hospitals; Humans; Interviews as Topic; Maternal and Child Health; Maternal health and pregnancy; Medical prognosis; Medical research; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental state; Parents & parenting; Patients; Pregnancy; Pregnancy and parenting experience; Pregnancy complications; Pregnancy Complications - psychology; Pregnancy Complications - surgery; Pregnancy, Twin - psychology; Pregnant Women - psychology; Qualitative Research; Reproductive Medicine; Research Article; Surgery; Twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome; Twins; Womens health; Young Adult; China; Qualitative research; Mental state; Twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome; Pregnancy and parenting experience
• ISSN: 1471-2393; 1471-2393
• DOI: 10.1186/s12884-021-04057-0

Background Qualitative research can reflect the actual thoughts and experience of research subjects and can be used to explore the experiences of women presenting with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) to facilitate the provision of targeted psychological support. Methods A semi-structured interview method was used to assess the pregnancy and parenting experiences of women with TTTS. Colaizzi method was used for data analysis. Results Eighteen women participated in the study. We found that women with TTTS during pregnancy experienced persistent worry about their children’s health from the disease diagnosis to the subsequent parenting processes, even in case of minor changes in their children’s health. The lack of an efficient referral process and health information increased their uncertainty about their children’s health. Conclusion In addition to the children’s health, other difficulties encountered during pregnancy and parenting may aggravate the pressure. Clinicians in the first-visit hospital and foetal medicine centre should improve the referral process and establish a follow-up system to provide women with health information and psychological support.