Barriers and facilitators of experiencing pregnancy and motherhood with congenital heart disease: A secondary qualitative analysis

Aims: To explore and describe perceived factors that favour or hinder the challenges faced by mothers with congenital heart disease during pregnancy and motherhood. Design: A secondary qualitative analysis, according to the interpretative phenomenological analysis approach. Methods: A previous study by Flocco et al., 2020 led us to identify that this population share risks, fear, worries and challenges related to pregnancy. To better understand two a priori themes, barriers and facilitators, we adopted The Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research guidelines, and the processes of credibility, transferability and dependability guaranteed the rigour. Results: The perceived barriers that were identified from the twelve semi-structured interviews were mainly identified in clinical and psychological risks, uncertainty about the future. The main facilitators were identified in positive mental attitude, self-motivation, trust in support by clinicians and nurses. Conclusion: The study results confirmed two main a priori themes, revealing that CHD women perceive considerable obstacles and figure out facilitators to face the difficulties encountered in their path to become mothers.