Harriett K. Light

Maternal concerns during pregnancy

Pregnancy is usually portrayed as a wonderful time of joy and anticipation, yet it has been well established that all women experience an increase in anxiety during pregnancy. What causes this maternal anxiety? A questionnaire was administered to 202 randomly selected maternity patients during their hospital confinement following childbirth in three hospitals in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, and Fargo, North Dakota. The purpose of the study was (1) to determine specific categories of concern in pregnant women and (2) to identify relationships between these concerns and (a) the number of pregnancies a woman has had and (b) her level of education. Over half of the subjects expressed concern in the categories of baby, childbirth, subsequent pregnancies, and self. Highly significant differences were found to exist between primiparas and multiparas and among women of various educational levels.

Sex differences in indicators of well-being in adolescents

The 1999 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, administered to 964 females and 852 males in randomly selected high schools in a midwestern state, indicated significantly greater negative indicators of mental and physical well-being for adolescent girls than adolescent boys. Results of the 1997 survey finding that significantly more adolescent girls reported engaging in several high risk sexual and drug behaviors such as having their first drink of alcohol at an earlier age, driving a vehicle in the past 30 days when they had been drinking, smoking at an earlier age, smoking more cigarettes per day, and using over-the-counter drugs to get high more often, were supported and enlarged.

Satisfaction with medical care during pregnancy and delivery

Societal attitudes toward the medical profession are apparently undergoing a change from awe and total respect to a more critical assessing of accountability and credibility. Based on mass media reports and the increasing number of malpractice suits, it would appear that a rational, unbiased review of medical doctors, hospital personnel, and care received is in order. This review should be concerned with technical aspects of medicine as determined by highly competent professionals and the consumers view of the medical care he receives. The latter review should logically be taken directly to the consumers of medical care to determine their satisfaction with the care they received. Because of the varied areas of specialty within the medical profession, there are different types of relationships between doctors and their patients. The obstetrician, for instance, is usually associated with pregnancy as a joyful event, in contrast to a surgeon whose diagnosis may seldom be accompanied by joy. Satisfaction with medical care could thus be expected to vary according to the area of specialty and may be related to factors over which doctors have no control, factors which initially bring the patient to the doctor for care. The degree of anxiety related to the patients condition could also be expected to contribute to the degree of satisfaction expressed by the patient.