Spirituality has contradictory effects on coping during pregnancy

1. In this systematic review, there were four main themes identified related to women’s experiences of social support during pregnancy: “a variety of emotional support,” “tangible and intangible instrumental support,” “traditional rituals and spiritual support,” and the “all-encompassing natal home.”

2. Although traditional rituals and spiritual support were associated with improved coping in some pregnant women, others found that spirituality was associated with increased stress.

Evidence Rating Level: 1 (Excellent)

Pregnancy can present several challenges for the expecting mother, including psychological distress, financial instability, and physical health issues. Social supports may help alleviate these challenges and improve the mother’s and child’s overall quality of life. Although the literature points to the benefit of social supports during pregnancy on wellbeing and physical health, most studies have taken a quantitative approach to examining this benefit. The aim of this study was to review the qualitative evidence on women’s experiences of social support during pregnancy to better understand this topic.

Of 1,597 identified records, 14 studies (n=571 participants) were included. Studies were included if they were written in English, included primarily adult women who were pregnant or had given birth, assessed the experiences of social supports during pregnancy, and the participants were not recruited because of a pre-existing health condition. Studies were excluded if they explored social support in breastfeeding, included participants under the age of 17, or included pregnant women with HIV, diabetes, intellectual disabilities, or visual impairments. The review was carried out according to PRISMA guidelines. The primary outcome was the major qualitative themes regarding women’s experiences of social supports during pregnancy, determined through thematic synthesis.

The results demonstrated that there were four main themes regarding women’s experiences of social support during pregnancy: “a variety of emotional support,” “tangible and intangible instrumental support,” “traditional rituals and spiritual support,” and the “all-encompassing natal home.” Spiritual support took a variety of forms, including advice on movement, exercise, and traditional foods. Although many women found spiritual support to be an important factor in reducing stress and improving coping, others found that spirituality increased stress levels. However, the review is limited by the fact that most of the studies were conducted in low-income countries, so the findings may not be generalizable to pregnant women in higher-income areas. Nonetheless, the present study demonstrated that spirituality is one of many important social supports for women during pregnancy.

Click to read the study in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth

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