Thai Pregnant Women’s Perceptions Regarding Fetal Brain Development: A Qualitative Descriptive Study

Abstract

Fetal brain development is a complex process that continues throughout pregnancy. Women need to ensure good brain development throughout their pregnancy, but a deep understanding of their perception of this issue exists. This qualitative descriptive study aimed to describe the perceptions of pregnant women regarding fetal brain development. Data were collected from 15 pregnant women living in a southern province of Thailand between August 2020 and January 2022 through in-depth interviews. In addition, analysis of qualitative data was performed using thematic analysis. From the data analysis, three themes emerged. The first theme was a Discrepancy between the significance and understanding of fetal brain development with two subthemes: 1) Perceiving the significance of fetal brain development and 2) Unclear understanding of fetal brain development. The second theme was Unrecognized harms of suboptimal fetal brain development with two subthemes: 1) Expectations for fetal brain development and 2) Understanding of harms. The third theme was Promoting fetal brain development with two subthemes: 1) Practices for nourishment and 2) Avoidance of harm. We concluded that pregnant women had a limited understanding of fetal brain development and harms hat could jeopardize fetal brain development, leading to difficulty promoting fetal brain development. Therefore, nurses should be trained to educate pregnant women, emphasizing the accurate understanding of fetal brain development, nourishment, and harm avoidance based on pregnant women’s context.