Explaining the concept of self-care in Iranian pregnant women: A qualitative study

Background: Self-care is one of the most appropriate approaches to achieve successful pregnancy outcomes. This study aimed was to explain the concept of self-care in Low–risk pregnancies based on the experiences of pregnant mothers and health care providers. Methods The present study was qualitative research of contractual content analysis. Purposeful sampling with maximum Variation was done among pregnant women under the care of health centers of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2020. In-depth and semi-structured individual interviews were used to collect data, which was saturated after 14 interviews with pregnant women and health care providers. Data analysis was done using the approach presented by Zhang and Wildmouth (2008). Results The content analysis of the interviews led to the extraction of three main categories of comprehensive care, barriers, and facilitators of self-care, and eleven sub-categories for the concept of self-care in pregnancy. Conclusion According to the results of this study, to improve self-care behaviors in pregnant women, it is necessary to pay attention to the facilitators of self-care and try to remove barriers by the health system, and establish effective communication between health care providers and pregnant mothers.