Navigating Pregnancy during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Social Support in Communicated Narrative Sense-making

ABSTRACT

Grounded in communicated narrative sense-making theory (CNSM), this study explored how women who were pregnant during the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 21) communicatively made sense of their experience in light of their received social support. Interview data were inductively analyzed for emergent themes and deductively analyzed for type of social support and narrative tone. Findings uncovered themes of a) connecting to mitigate stress, b) drawing on others’ knowledge, c) receiving socially distant instrumental support, and d) lacking medical professional support. Further, instances of informational, instrumental, and/or emotional support frequently occurred in stories with a positive narrative tone, whereas instances of insufficient support frequently appeared in stories with a negative tone. These results support previous research on the benefits and barriers of social support during pregnancy and extend theorizing about the implications of interpersonal interactions on CNSM. Practical applications are explored for medical professionals endeavoring to support pregnant women during a pandemic.