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conferenceseries
.com
Volume 8
Gynecology & Obstetrics
ISSN: 2161-0932
Gynecology 2018
October 08-10, 2018
October 08-10, 2018 | Zurich, Switzerland
5
th
International Conference on
Gynecology and Obstetrics
The crisis experience among first-time mothers: Preparedness to parenthood and personal coping
strategies
Yeela Tomsis
1, 2
, Marc Gelkopf
2
, Hanoch Yerushalmi
2
and
Yaniv Zipori
3
1
Zefat Academic College, Israel
2
University of Haifa, Israel
3
University of Toronto, Canada
Background:
Upon giving birth, various emotional problems may appear that can cause difficulties and distress for the new
mother and her family. The crisis experience is defined as a condition of psychological imbalance in which one’s usual coping
mechanisms fail to the point of incapacitation. Consequently, one may experience despair, helplessness, stress and fear. The
crisis experience is not a psychopathological phenomenon, and can be a part of a normal adaptation to the transition to
parenthood. It can be accompanied by post-partum depression or post-partum anxiety, but not necessarily. The post-partum
crisis experience can lead to emotional distress and requires further investigation and conceptualization.
Objective:
Aim of this study is to evaluate to what extent do first time postpartum women experience crisis after having given
birth for the first time and with what correlating personal factors.
Method:
This was a prospective cohort study. Eligible women had a singleton pregnancy and delivered a healthy newborn at
term. Five sets of questionnaires (perceived difficulty of the labor, cognitive emotion regulation, and conservation of resources,
parental perceived competence, and the crisis experience questionnaire) were sent to the participants six weeks postpartum.
Results:
A total of 188 completed questionnaires were considered for the final analysis. 45% of the participants reported a
moderate to severe crisis experience on a scale of 1(very low) to 5 (very high), the overall crisis mean was 2.82 (S.D. 0.92). Lack
of preparedness to parenthood, coping by self-blame, blaming others and/or rumination together with perception of resource
loss emerged as independent variables that were significantly associated with the crisis experience severity.
Conclusion:
Emotional and practical preparedness to parenthood classes can help reducing the normal stresses of the
transition to parenthood, and the severity of post-partum crisis experience. This study also contributed to understanding and
conceptualization of the post-partum crisis experience.
Biography
Yeela Tomsis has completed her PhD at Haifa University. She is a Lecturer and Researcher at Nursing School, Zefat Academic College.
yeelat@zefat.ac.ilYeela Tomsis et al., Gynecol Obstet 2018, Volume 8
DOI: 10.4172/2161-0932-C4-033