The experience of pregnancy discovery and acceptance: a descriptive study based on free hierarchical evocation by associative networks

Women’s childbearing experiences vary with pregnancy intentional nature and outcome. An Associative Network study targeted 129 women pregnant >1 year ago and their experiences at pregnancy start and post-pregnancy. Word-associations formed 15 themes and 5 metathemes. The main pregnancy discovery themes were “Affect” (39%), “Relationships with others” (11%), and “Logistics” (7%). The main post-pregnancy themes were “Affect” (18%), “Relationship with the child” (13%), and “Personal progress” (12%). The overall polarity index was higher in intended vs. unintended pregnancies. Whatever pregnancy outcome, women expressed impressions of constructive experience. Discovering pregnancy and deciding about it led anyway to personal and social progress.