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      • HARVEST
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      The lived experience and meaning of pregnancy in women with mild to moderate depression

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      Date
      2009-08
      Author
      McKillop, Erin
      Type
      Thesis
      Degree Level
      Masters
      Metadata
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      Abstract
      The notion that pregnancy can, for some women, be a time of unhappiness and depression has only recently been recognized in media and by the general public. Researchers and clinicians have begun to study antenatal depression with regards to prevalence, associated factors, and treatment. Most of the research regarding antenatal depression has been quantitative in method. Qualitative inquiry would provide the rich description of women’s lived experience and meaning of antenatal depression. A hermeneutic phenomenological study was conducted with six women who scored 10, 11, or 12 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, indicating mild to moderate symptoms of depression. Participants were interviewed individually regarding their experiences of depression during pregnancy. Data generated in the form of transcripts were analyzed and five themes emerged: disconnection vs. new connection and/or reconnection; loss of identity vs. new identity; fatigue and illness vs. vitality and wellness; anxiety and insecurity vs. confidence and security; and sadness and hopelessness vs. joy and expectation. The overarching shared meaning of these experiences was ambivalence. Findings provided rich, thick descriptions of the lived experience and meaning of antenatal depression. Future research and implications for counselling practice are discussed.
      Degree
      Master of Education (M.Ed.)
      Department
      Educational Psychology and Special Education
      Program
      Educational Psychology and Special Education
      Supervisor
      Martin, Stephanie
      Committee
      Bowen, Angela; Downe, Pamela; Muhajarine, Nazeem
      Copyright Date
      August 2009
      URI
      http://hdl.handle.net/10388/etd-09202009-160540
      Subject
      lifeworld existentials
      social construction of motherhood
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      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
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