THE MOM EXPERIENCE
Andreea Tamaian, a doctoral student in clinical psychology at the University of Regina, has launched an online study of women’s experiences with the medical system during pregnancy and childbirth to see how physical and mental health are affected.
What kind of experience do women have with the medical system during pregnancy and childbirth?
Andreea Tamaian, a PhD student in clinical psychology at the University of Regina, is conducting an online study to find out.
She’s intrigued by recent research on “institutional betrayal” — which looks at the failure of an institution to prevent or respond supportively when a traumatic event happens.
“I really want to see what kind of medical interactions harm individuals in the long term — whether that’s their mental or physical health,” Tamaian said.
Under the supervision of Dr. Bridget Klest, Tamaian is recruiting 240 pregnant women to participate in an online study.
The focus is on pregnancy and childbirth experiences because that’s when women usually have a number of interactions with the health-care system.
“There’s a lot of research in the last decade or so that shows that childbirth in itself can be an event that can lead to post-traumatic symptoms,” Tamaian said. “In the literature, when they’ve looked at postnatal post-traumatic distress, they found one of the main reasons cited by the women is dissatisfaction with the medical interactions they received during labour and delivery.”
From her previous research, she found institutional betrayal occurs at a system and doctor level.
“It could be something the doctor did or didn’t do or systemic factors that are happening across the board,” Tamaian said. “There’s system barriers in care that individuals are seeing as betraying or the perception that doctors are always right and don’t take accountability and this is really impacting their experiences.”
Survey participants will be asked to indicate whether specific statements applied to their experience. For example: Doctors provided inadequate information about risks and procedures; medical providers did not listen to my concerns and the medical system created an environment that promoted further negative experiences.
The project is also looking at which individual differences — such as personality — impact how a patient interprets a potentially adverse medical experience.
Tamaian noted some individuals might have the same experience, but not view it as betrayal, and therefore not be negatively affected by it.
Women will complete the survey in their third trimester of pregnancy and then one month and three months after delivery. The first survey takes 45 minutes to complete and the other two can be done in 30 minutes.
Tamaian’s work is being funded by the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation. The study is the first of its kind in Canada.
The findings of the survey will appear in her PhD dissertation project and be published in peer reviewed journals.
To participate in the study, email Tamaian at tamaiana@uregina.ca.
As compensation for their participation, women will be entered into a draw for a chance to win one of 20 $50 gift certificates.