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Picturing Healthy Moms, Babies and Communities

Nypaver, Cynthia
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1377869806

Abstract Details

2013, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Nursing: Nursing - Doctoral Program.
Despite a reduction in the overall infant mortality rate (IMR) over the past 60 years, there remains an ever-widening gap of disparity between the deaths of Black (12.7/1,000) babies and White babies (5.2/1,000) during their first year of life. Comprehension of this complex and stunning disparity continues to escape full understanding, yet it is likely multifactorial, with one component being inadequate care among African American women during pregnancy. Women who receive early and continuous prenatal care have lower rates of preterm birth and low birth weight infants, two antecedents of infant mortality. Yet African American women are less likely to engage in early and continuous prenatal care for various reasons, some yet to be discovered. The standardized, traditional biomedical model of prenatal care is not tailored to specific cultural and psychosocial needs. The care that pregnant African American women need may be quite different from the biomedical model. This study explored the psychosocial and cultural needs of African American who had given birth in their past to understand the factors that support or hinders meaningful prenatal care. A community-based participatory approach using a photovoice project was conducted for this study. Two theories, Africana Womanism and Critical Race Theory, provided the framework to guide the study. This study was conducted with a purposeful sampling of 11 African American women who had given birth in their past and who lived in an urban, low-income neighborhood in Midwestern, United States. Through photography, the participants shared stories about assets and barriers to meaningful prenatal care. The themes derived from the study were: "access to care," "soul nourishment,"companionship," "help me, teach me," and "the future." Overall, meaningful care encompassed not only physical care but care received through relationships and spirituality. This study revealed the culturally specific and meaningful ways that African American women care for themselves and others during pregnancy. It also illuminated the physical and psychosocial barriers that African American women encountered, when pregnant, while attempting to secure meaningful prenatal care. Findings support that prenatal care is much more than the physical act of attending prenatal visits with a healthcare provider. In addition prenatal care is influenced by sociopolitical, economic, and personal factors.
Donna Shambley-Ebron, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Mary Brydon-Miller, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Debora Dole, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Lisa Vaughn, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
212 p.
Nursing
African American women; infant mortality; community-based participatory research; Health Disparities; prenatal care; Photovoice

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Nypaver, C. (2013). Picturing Healthy Moms, Babies and Communities [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1377869806

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Nypaver, Cynthia. Picturing Healthy Moms, Babies and Communities. 2013. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1377869806.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Nypaver, Cynthia. "Picturing Healthy Moms, Babies and Communities." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1377869806

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1377869806
790
© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.