A Unexpected Fetal 0utcome during Pregnancy: A Humae Experience

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand and describe the experience of known fetal malformation from the perspective of a woman who had lived through this experience. Quali-tative methodology of phenomenology was selected as the philosophical basis used in the study. A woman who had been evaluated for fetal malformation consented to participate.
She described her experience of known fetal malformation as a complication of her pregnancy, At times she thought of hoping her baby would live, but, at other times she thought of hoping her baby would die. She described how she coped with this situation by extending her internal and external worlds. And she thought of how her own life had been expanded by this event. She believed the baby would live with her always, and together they would extend their external world through trust and open minds.