April 7-9, 2022 • Hyatt Regency • Lexington, KY
Communication Strategies to Promote Comprehensive Well-being
Communication Strategies to Promote Comprehensive Well-being
Abstract: Black Women’s Maternal Health and Social Support across All Three Stages of Pregnancy: A Qualitative Evaluation
This manuscript reports on the communicative social support Black women receive from loved ones, including parents, spouses, partners, and siblings during the prenatal, delivery, and postnatal stages of pregnancy. Guided by the Relational Dialectics theory (Baxter, 2011), Social Support framework (Cutrona & Suhr, 1994) and intersectionality (Collins, 2000), this study reveals competing discourses Black women manage in interpersonal interactions related to social support during pregnancy. Health communication scholars have already been examining the pregnancy experience using the combined lenses of relational dialectics and social support (Cronin-Fisher & Parcell, 2019; Scharp & Thomas, 2017). However, this study solely highlights Black women, rather than merging their experiences with other women of color or comparing the experiences with those of White women. Moreover, this study recognizes Black women as a unique group whose intersecting marginalized identities may impact or be impacted by communication about social support. Following approval from an institutional review board (IRB), Black women who gave birth in 2019 or 2020 in the U.S. were recruited through multiple methods. The first author interviewed 30 women via telephone (n = 24) or Zoom© (n = 6) from June – September 2020. Questions focused on the types of and perceptions of social support the women received from loved ones during the three stages of pregnancy. The interviews ranged from 40 minutes to 130 minutes, and were transcribed and uploaded into NVivo for analysis. We used deductive and inductive modes of analysis. These combined analytical approaches encourage comprehensive insights into the data (Tracy, 2020). The findings reveal that Black women received various types of social support during all three stages of pregnancy. Most reported receiving action facilitating support in the form of informational support (e.g., information about what to expect during pregnancy) and instrumental support (e.g., someone else cleaning the house). The women also received nurturing support, including expressions of caring. The mothers and spouses or partners of the women were reported as the most supportive. Yet, some women struggled with being open about social support needs, and managing the challenge of the changes a new baby brings to the family. Finally, the women expressed critical race consciousness as they asserted that their support and support for future mothers must be grounded in the knowledge that Black women are at higher risks of pregnancy-related deaths than other ethnicities (Petersen et al., 2019). Some women spoke with loved ones about these risks, while others were reticent. If loved ones are to provide culturally competent communication and behaviors that are supportive to Black women during any stage of their pregnancy, it is important that they develop an understanding of and an ability to execute the communication competencies necessary to meet these women’s social support needs. Knowing the social support formats that are effective with Black women can help reduce the high maternal morbidity and mortality rates experienced by Black women in the U.S. Additionally, this knowledge will introduce Afro-centric communicative strategies that can ensure that Black women thrive in the early stages of pregnancy and birth.