Qualifying Risk: Exploring How Life Course Stress Experiences Influence the Risk of Preterm Birth Among Black Women

Summary: 
Experiences of pregnant black women who are very poor comprise a rich tapestry of life experiences. Each recognized their own unique expert knowledge they can pass on to their children and that the gift of resilience is one part of their legacy. All dreamed to provide a childhood of safety and care and were actively looking ahead to create paths that achieved those goals.

Principal Investigators:
Leslie Dubbin, PhD, MPH, RN | Social & Behavioral Sciences | UCSF School of Nursing
Monica McLemore, PhD, MPH, RN | Family Health Care Nursing | UCSF School of Nursing

Award Cycle: Spring 2016

Objectives

The goal of this study was to understand the types of stress that Black women experience, and what tools of resilience and mechanisms of coping they use when experiencing stress during their pregnancy.

Methods

In-depth interviews based were conducted with Black women Black between the ages of 18- 44 and at or around their 30th week of pregnancy.

Results

Women's narratives focused on three themes of interest: life course stress, social support, and resiliency.

Life course stress: Most women in this study described unstable childhoods, the stress of which traveled with them to adulthood and shaped their current life situations. The main sources of current stress were housing instability and job insecurity.

Social Support and Social Networks: Few of the women in this study had a strong network of social support; most relied on individual family members, small group of friends and/or the father of the baby.

Resilience: Spirituality and belief in their own inner strength to "make it" and "keep going" is the foundation of their resilience. The pregnancy itself was seen as the reason for making positive life changes.

Conclusions

Experiences of pregnant black women who are very poor comprise a rich tapestry of life experiences. Each recognized their own unique expert knowledge they can pass on to their children and that the gift of resilience is one part of their legacy. All dreamed to provide a childhood of safety and care and were actively looking ahead to create paths that achieved those goals.