The Experience of HELLP Syndrome in Pregnancy and its Influence on Motherhood: An Autoethnographic Inquiry
Date
2019-11-14
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Abstract
This thesis involved an autoethnographic inquiry into the lived experience of HELLP syndrome; a severe, life-threatening hypertensive complication in pregnancy, and on motherhood. I aimed to explore how mothers make sense of their experience as to understand how HELLP syndrome shapes this time in a woman’s life. This inquiry was informed by the relevant literature and stories of eight women, including my own, who have experienced this medical disorder of pregnancy. Using the principles of evocative autoethnography outlined by Ellis and Bochner (2016) and through a social constructionist framework, the final research product is in the form of a personal narrative, or story, about my own lived experience, which serves a backdrop for revealing the influence HELLP syndrome has on motherhood. The goals of my study were multifold: (1) to bring voice to mothers affected by HELLP syndrome, (2) to inform the field of medicine on the psychosocial aspects of HELLP syndrome, and (3) to inform the field of counselling psychology on how sociocultural factors can contribute to psychological distress among HELLP syndrome survivors. Implications and directions for future research are provided.
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pregnancy, HELLP syndrome, motherhood, autoethnography, personal narrative, social constructionism, women, medicine, counselling psychology
Citation
Kokotailo, R. A. (2019). The Experience of HELLP Syndrome in Pregnancy and its Influence on Motherhood: An Autoethnographic Inquiry (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.