Women's Subjective Experiences Research Articles

People discuss the men who can't get it up, but what about the women who can't get it in? Women's help-seeking experiences for sexual pain-penetration disorder

PurposeWhile it is common to hear of men who ‘can't get it up’ due to erectile dysfunction, people rarely discuss the women who ‘can't get it in’. These women often meet the criteria for sexual pain-penetration disorder (SPPD), which makes vaginal penetration painful or difficult. Lacking awareness of SPPD and the changing terminology from vaginismus to SPPD complicates help-seeking. Yet, there is lacking research on women's help-seeking experiences for SPPD. Therefore, this study aimed to examine Australian women's subjective experiences of formal and informal help-seeking for their SPPD to gain information, diagnosis, treatment, and support. MethodsHelp-seeking theory informed the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 participants who sought help for their SPPD, which were inductively thematically analysed. ResultsFive major themes were developed. (1) Recognition that help-seeking is necessary varied depending on participants' presentation of SPPD. (2) Initiating help-seeking included accessing first points of contact and gaining diagnosis. (3) Management of symptoms with treatment involved conventional, complementary, and alternative treatments. Women discussed using sex toys as alternatives to vaginal trainers, the correlation between negotiating pain thresholds and treatment progress, and their perceptions towards Botox and nerve blocks. (4) Traverse formal healthcare networks facilitated or hindered help-seeking. (5) Navigation of un/supportive informal networks included women's partners, family, friends, and online communities. ConclusionsThe benefit of self-help kits, and complementary and alternative treatments for SPPD should be evaluated. Recommendations involve improving health professionals' approaches, including in online spaces. Women's immediate informal support networks should be engaged in healthcare management.

Birthing consciousness and the flow experience during physiological childbirth

ProblemIt has been demonstrated that birth without medical intervention conveys significant physical and psychological benefits to the mother and her newborn baby. However, there is a need to include women's subjective experience of physiological birth to understand and promote it. BackgroundThe theoretical concept of “birthing consciousness” hypothesizes that women during natural childbirth sometimes experience a specific altered state of consciousness, which is a positive peak experience that resembles “flow” in many aspects. AimTo investigate the underexplored connection between the physiological mode of childbirth and altered states of consciousness during childbirth. MethodsIsraeli women with childbirth experience were recruited through social media (Facebook groups with a focus on childbirth and motherhood). Participants (n = 766) completed an online survey: the Flow State Scale (FSS) and a demographic questionnaire. FindingsDifferences were found between modes of birth as to flow state, as women who experienced physiological childbirth (i.e., with no epidural anesthesia or instrumental interventions) had a higher flow state during birth. DiscussionThis link empirically confirms the phenomenon of birthing consciousness. All nine dimensions of the mental state of flow apply to childbirth: challenge-skill balance, action-awareness merging, clear goals, unambiguous feedback, concentration on the task, sense of control, loss of self-consciousness, transformation of time, and autotelic experience. ConclusionUnderstanding a women's subjective experience during physiological birth can enhance clinical understanding of physiological birth thus promoting positive physiological birth experiences – which has crucial health benefits. We propose that more studies need to be done to promote experiencing flow during physiological birth.

Work-life balance and the psychosocial work environment in Finnish working life: The case of gender and family life stages.

Work-life balance is associated with many positive effects at multiple levels and demands increased research attention. In the international literature on work-life balance, the term "gendered life-course" has been used to describe the differences between men and women in work biographies. However, whether this term applies to the Nordic work context remains underexplored. This study examined Finnish men's and women's subjective experience of the association between work-life balance and the psychosocial work environment (work demands and social support at work) across the life course, devoting special attention to family life stages encompassing the care of (young) children. Data from the Quality of Work Life Survey 2018 were utilized to conduct binary logistic regression analyses (N = 3790). Separate analyses were conducted for men and women. A significant association between family life stage and high work-life balance was found for women but not for men in the Finnish working life. Women in family life stages involving the care of young, dependent children reported the lowest odds of high work-life balance. For both men and women, a positive association between social support at work and high work-life balance was found, while a negative association was found between work demands and high work-life balance. These findings highlight the importance of psychosocial factors in both the work and family settings for work-life balance. Further, the findings call for an expanded focus on gender equality, also including issues in unpaid work in addition to issues in paid work.

"It is not all glowing and kale smoothies": An exploration of mental health difficulties during pregnancy through women's voices.

This study aimed to explore the experiences of women with moderate-to-severe mental health difficulties during pregnancy, with a focus on establishing their psychological needs. Psychological distress caused by mental health difficulties during pregnancy is common and can significantly impact women and their babies. However, women's subjective experiences of difficulties with their mental health throughout pregnancy, alongside their experiences of staff, services and treatments are less well understood. In this qualitative study, an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach was used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants recruited via a regional Perinatal Mental Health Service. Interviews were transcribed and analysed following the IPA methodology. Five superordinate themes were identified which represented the lived experiences of the 11 participants on their journey through pregnancy whilst living with mental health difficulties and subsequent psychological distress: (i) Feeling the 'wrong' feelings, (ii) Societal pressures and a desire for greater acceptance, (iii) Searching for answers despite a lack of resources, (iv) What made a difference and (v) Experiences and expectations of service provision. Within these themes, 13 subordinate themes were also identified. These themes highlight the need for greater awareness and acceptance of mental health difficulties during pregnancy as well as postnatally. While perinatal mental health services are evolving, there is still an urgent requirement for services to continue to develop to meet women's needs, as well as to develop the role of clinicians as facilitators of engagement with needs-matched care.

Affective geographies in pandemic times: An intersectional analysis of women's wellbeing in Aotearoa New Zealand

This article builds upon and extends a growing body of literature focused on how the pandemic has shifted human relations with space, place, and wellbeing. Working at the intersection of pandemic and feminist geographies, we focus on how the reconceptualizing of familiar spaces and places during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted women's embodied, affective, and subjective experiences of wellbeing. Drawing upon interviews with 38 women from diverse socio-cultural backgrounds living in Aotearoa New Zealand during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, we detail the emergence of different spatial arrangements and affective relations with familiar spaces and places (i.e., domestic, nature, and digital spaces). We then explain how these emergent affective and spatial relations prompted new understandings of wellbeing. The article also highlights the multiplicities of women's subjective experiences of wellbeing as shaped by their varied socio-cultural positionings in relation to pandemic geographies.

"When I Think of It I Awfully Dread It": Conceptualizing Childbirth Pain in Early America.

The emergence of obstetric anesthesia in the second half of the nineteenth century was preceded by a transformation in the medical conceptualization of women's pain. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, physicians described pain in physiological terms as natural and unproblematic, but in the second half of the nineteenth century they adopted a newly emotional language that emphasized women's subjective experiences of suffering. Middle-class and elite white women shaped this transition by insisting that their physical and emotional anguish was extreme. Women's attitudes, combined with a growing perception that sensibility to pain was a marker of "civilization," pushed physicians to view suffering as real and problematic. As they began to depict pain relief as an urgent medical concern, physicians envisioned refined white women as the primary beneficiaries of their new technology; this perspective paved the way for the increasingly routine use of anesthesia for middle-class and elite white women.

"Out of This World": Norwegian Women's Experiences of Medical Abortion Pain.

Medical abortion has rapidly become the dominant abortion method in western countries. Pain is a known adverse effect; however, few studies have explored women's subjective experience of medical abortion pain. To explore Norwegian women's experiences of pain when performing a medical abortion at home. We recruited 24 women through an advertisement on Facebook and conducted semi-structured, face-to-face interviews. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and the data were analyzed using a phenomenological hermeneutical method. Our findings consisted of two main themes: 1) Being in pain or becoming pain, and 2) Being caught off guard and struggling to cope. Participants described undergoing severe pain, comparable to giving birth, during the medical abortion. Unprepared for the type and intensity of the pain, they felt anxious and insecure. Pain is physical, but it also has important psychological, social, and existential dimensions. Our culture (in)forms our thoughts and feelings about our pain, affecting our ability to endure suffering. The participants' experiences of abortion pain prompt timely questions concerning gendered socio-cultural and existential meanings connected to pain, specifically in relation to female reproductive functions. Women need realistic information about the type and intensity of abortion pain, as well as evidence-based pain medication. Psychological factors may affect the experience of abortion pain and should therefore be taken into account in abortion care.

'They Sent Me Out to School, and I Came Back with a Baby': Perinatal Women's Experiences of Biographical Disruption and Nonfatal Suicidal Behaviour.

Exploring perinatal women's experience of nonfatal suicidal behaviour (NFSB) could help illuminate the contexts in which perinatal suicide occurs and new ways to conceptualise maternal suicide prevention. Our aim was to explore perinatal women's subjective experience of NFSB in South Africa. Data were collected via in-depth interviews with seven perinatal women hospitalised following NFSB. Thematic analysis showed how poverty and gender norms shape experiences of pregnancy and highlighted the need for eco-systemic interventions for perinatal women in resource scarce environments to increase social support, assist with childcare, improve educational retention, challenge gender norms and increase paternal involvement. Pregnancy can precipitate biographical disruption by disturbing women's view of themselves and their futures. An inability to reconstruct a coherent narrative and re-imagine the future impedes the transition to motherhood and provides a context for suicide. Using the concept of biographical disruption to frame perinatal suicide, could identify novel approaches to suicide prevention.

The embodiment of childhood abuse and anorexia nervosa: A body mapping study

Childhood trauma has long been implicated in the development of anorexia nervosa and is known to impact more women than men. Still, less is known about the meaning women attribute to food and bodily practices and how they contribute to feminine subjectivity. In this article, we examine the subjective experiences of women with histories of childhood abuse and anorexia and women who did not develop an eating disorder. Through a visual narrative analysis of eight body maps and narratives, we identified five themes: “time and the body have a way of showing what matters,” “femininity and family,” “sexual subjectivities and food meanings,” “voices, dissociation, and sexual subjectivities,” and “religion and healthism.” In women with anorexia, specific eating and bodily practices reconstructed the traumatic events to align with the available cultural discourses related to health, religion, and family and had implications for their feminine and sexual subjectivities and self-worth. This research showcased how arts-based methodologies add value and advance knowledge about the role of culturally available representations in the development of anorexia and has implications for therapy and prevention of anorexia.

Developing a woman‐centered, inclusive definition of traumatic childbirth experiences: A discussion paper

Many women experience giving birth as traumatic. Although women's subjective experiences of trauma are considered the most important, currently there is no clear inclusive definition of a traumatic birth to help guide practice, education, and research. To formulate a woman-centered, inclusive definition of a traumatic childbirth experience. After a rapid literature review, a five-step process was undertaken. First, a draft definition was created based on interdisciplinary experts' views. The definition was then discussed and reformulated with input from over 60 multidisciplinary clinicians and researchers during a perinatal mental health and birth trauma research meeting in Europe. A revised definition was then shared with consumer groups in eight countries to confirm its face validity and adjusted based on their feedback. The stepwise process confirmed that a woman-centered and inclusive definition was important. The final definition was: "A traumatic childbirth experience refers to a woman's experience of interactions and/or events directly related to childbirth that caused overwhelming distressing emotions and reactions; leading to short and/ or long-term negative impacts on a woman's health and wellbeing." This definition of a traumatic childbirth experience was developed through consultations with experts and consumer groups. The definition acknowledges that low-quality provider interactions and obstetric violence can traumatize individuals during childbirth. The women-centered and inclusive focus could help women to identify and validate their experiences of traumatic birth, offering benefits for practice, education, and research, as well as for policymaking and activism in the fields of perinatal mental health and respectful maternity care.

The influence of an osteopathic treatment on pregnant women on expected date of delivery on the course of parturition and the subjective well-being: A Pilot Study

Background: The reduction of birth complications is of high interest in terms of mother and child's physical and mental health. Furthermore, passing the calculated birth date comes along with physi-cal and psychological stress in many late-term pregnant women. Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of one osteopathic treatment on selected birth complications and on the subjective well-being of the mother. The impact of OMT on vital signs and the actual date of delivery and the need for labor inductions was observed. The women's subjective experience with the treatment was interrogated through a questionnaire. Methods: 58 pregnant women took part in this pragmatic controlled pilot study, including one treatment group (n=29) and one control group with usual obstetric care (n=29). The treatment group received one osteopathic treatment on the expected date of delivery. Spielberger's State test, fetal heart rate, mother's heart rate and blood pressure were compared before and after the treatment tested through t-test. Selected maternal complications (using the Fisher Exact Test), actual delivery date, and drug-induced labor were compared between groups. Results: No differences in the rate of selected complications were observed between groups (p=1). The subjective well-being showed significant differences before and after treatment (p<0.001) and correlated with the questionnaire analysis. The birth date was significantly earlier in the treatment group than the control group (p=0.002). No statistically significant differences were observed in terms of drug-induced labor induction (p=0.104). Conclusions: In terms of birth complications, further studies with a higher number of treatments, earlier onset of therapy and treatment during birth with randomized subjects and three groups are highly recommended. Significant effects on the subjective well-being and the due date could be observed which indicate further studies. Keywords: pregnancy, birth process, osteopathic treatment, subjective well-being

The "3 Es" of trauma-informed care in a federally qualified health center: Traumatic Event- and Experience-related predictors of physical and mental health Effects among female patients.

Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) are a fast-growing source of healthcare for women with intersectional identities, or those most frequently exposed to and negatively impacted by interpersonal trauma. According to the "3 E" conceptualization of trauma, certain Event- and Experience-related characteristics of a trauma predict victims' physical and mental health Effects. The "3 Es" have yet to be studied in female FQHC patients. The current study examined the prevalence of interpersonal trauma and interrelationships among traumatic Event-related factors (e.g., cumulative trauma by victim-perpetrator relationship), Experience-related factors (e.g., betrayal, resilience), and Effects (e.g., somatic symptoms, posttraumatic stress (PTS), anxiety/depression, mistrust, reduced sense of safety) among 138 predominantly Black (89.1%) women receiving care at an FQHC in the southeastern U.S. Roughly 65% of participants (n = 86) endorsed exposure to at least one type of interpersonal trauma. More cumulative trauma was significantly correlated with more somatic, PTS, and anxious/depressive symptoms,and a reduced sense of safety. Experiences of betrayal and/or resilience were better predictors of PTS and anxious/depressive symptoms and lack of safety than Event-related factors. Findings support the need for the implementation of trauma-informed care within community-based health centers. Healthcare providers should consider women's subjective experience of trauma when screening for exposure and providing trauma-sensitive care.

"Phantom Kicks": Women's Subjective Experience of Fetal Kicks After the Postpartum Period.

Background: During pregnancy, a woman will attribute increased abdominal sensations to fetal movement. Surprisingly, many women report that they feel kick sensations long after the pregnancy; however, this experience has never been reported in the scientific literature. Materials and Methods: We used a qualitative approach to survey n = 197 women who had previously been pregnant. We calculated the number of women who had experienced phantom kicks after their first pregnancy, and explored subjective experiences of kick-like sensations in the post-partum period. Results: In this study, we show that almost 40% of women in our sample experienced phantom fetal kicks after their first pregnancy, up to 28 years (average 6.4 years) post-partum. Women described the phantom sensations as "convincing," "real kicks," or "flutters." Twenty-seven percent of women described the experience as nostalgic or comforting, and 25.7% reported felt confused or upset by the experience. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that phantom kicks in the postpartum period are a widely experienced sensation, which may have implications for a woman's postpartum mental health. The mechanism behind the phantom kick phenomenon is unknown, but may be related to changes in the somatosensory homunculus or proprioception during pregnancy.

Is Mode of Delivery Associated With Sexual Response? A Pilot Study of Genital and Subjective Sexual Arousal in Primiparous Women With Vaginal or Cesarean Section Births

IntroductionAlthough postpartum sexual concerns are common, limited data exist on postpartum sexual response. Furthermore, the physiological process of vaginal birth may negatively impact genital response compared with unlabored cesarean section (C-section), but this hypothesis has yet to be tested. AimTo (i) compare genital and subjective sexual response and sexual concordance by mode of delivery with inclusion of a control group, (ii) compare groups on self-reported sexual function over the past month, (iii) examine the relationship between laboratory measurement of sexual response and self-reported sexual function, and (iv) investigate association between obstetrical factors and breastfeeding and between sexual response and self-reported sexual function. Methods3 groups of cisgender women were recruited from the community: primiparous women who delivered via vaginal birth within the past 2 years (VB group; n = 16), primiparous women who delivered via unlabored C-section within the past 2 years (CS group, n = 15), and age-matched nulliparous women (NP group, n = 18). Laser Doppler imaging was used to assess genital response while participants watched a neutral and erotic film. Main Outcome MeasuresThe main outcome measures were change in flux units from neural to erotic video as a measure of genital response, subjective sexual arousal rated continuously throughout films, perceived genital response rated after films, and Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). ResultsWomen in the VB group had significantly lower change in flux units than women in the CS (P = .005, d = 1.39) and NP (P < .001, d = 1.80) groups. Groups did not differ on their subjective indices of sexual response or in sexual concordance. Women in both postpartum groups reported lower FSFI scores than women in the NP group. No relationship was determined between FSFI scores and sexual response in the laboratory. Results suggested that genital trauma and breastfeeding may negatively impact FSFI scores, but they were not related to genital response or subjective sexual arousal as measured in the laboratory. Clinical ImplicationsResults underscore the importance of balancing objective and subjective indices of sexual response and function, especially considering the biopsychosocial nature of postpartum sexuality. Strengths & LimitationsThe present study is the first to apply modern sexual psychophysiological methodology to the study of postpartum sexuality. Cross-sectional methodology limits the ability to make causal inferences, and the strict inclusion criteria limits generalizability. ConclusionPhysiological changes as a result of labor and delivery may have a detrimental impact on genital response; however, these physiological differences may not impact women's subjective experience of postpartum sexuality.Cappell J, Bouchard KN, Chamberlain SM, et al. Is Mode of Delivery Associated With Sexual Response? A Pilot Study of Genital and Subjective Sexual Arousal in Primiparous Women With Vaginal or Cesarean Section Births. J Sex Med 2020; 17:257–272.

Making Milk and Money: Contemporary Mothers' Orientations to Breastfeeding and Work

In most Western industrial nations, gains have been made in women's educational and occupational opportunities as part of a larger gender revolution. At the same time, contemporary mothering expectations have expanded and intensified, especially the renewed focus on breastfeeding as the “optimal” choice for infant feeding. How do women perceive the simultaneous pursuit of these activities? Prior scholarship has identified tensions in cultural models of breastfeeding as well as in women's subjective experiences, emphasizing how breastfeeding is shaped and encountered through sociocultural context, especially ideologies that position work and mothering as incompatible. Building on this, I examine how the current generation of working mothers view working and breastfeeding. Through in‐depth interviews with 32 U.S. women, I show how women espouse distinctly different orientations to breastfeeding: instrumentalist, quasi‐maternalist, and pragmatist. I argue that these different orientations both reflect and reframe existing cultural models and discourses about contemporary women's relationships to work, mothering, and breastfeeding.

Abortion exile: navigating Mexico’s fractured abortion landscape

This paper develops the concept of ‘abortion exile’ to understand the situation of women who are forced to travel for abortion services because the procedure is outlawed, stigmatized, unaffordable or otherwise inaccessible in their place of residence. A number of legislative, economic, and moral mechanisms conspire to deny women abortion rights at home such that they must journey within and across national borders in pursuit of needed abortion care. While anthropologists have examined the movement of women and men in search of fertility care that is unavailable at home, attention to the situation of women forced to relocate to terminate an untenable pregnancy is surprisingly scarce. Taking Mexico's fractured abortion landscape as an ethnographic starting place, this paper examines the experiences of women made to venture to the capital for legal abortion services because the procedure is criminalised and difficult to access elsewhere in the country. The concept of ‘abortion exile’ can helpfully explain the forced movement, political status and subjective experiences of women in different world regions where abortion rights are limited, absent, or under threat, and for whom reproductive citizenship remains elusive.

“Soothing My Child's Soul and My Own”: Dealing with Pregnancy Loss in Postcommunist Romania

AbstractIn Romania—where induced abortions were legally prohibited during communism and are now morally condemned by many—those who lose a pregnancy against their will have long been regarded with suspicion, confronted with a sense of culpability, and surrounded by silence. This ambiguity is reflected in the local terminology and the perceived etiology of loss. In this article, which is based on 15 months of fieldwork between 2012 and 2015, I illustrate the various meanings and manifestations of a silenced sense of culpability around involuntary pregnancy loss in the lives of women from Bucharest and a small town in Central Romania. I also show how many of these women attempt to break the silence around their lost fetuses and carve out a personal space of commemoration and consolation. Their informal use of forbidden religious rituals paradoxically allows them to confirm the existence of their lost little ones and to position themselves as caring, rather than culpable, mothers. [pregnancy loss, commemoration, culpability, postcommunist Romania]

The subjective experiences of women with intellectual disabilities and offending behaviour: exploring their experiences of ‘home’

ObjectivesServices supporting individuals with intellectual disabilities are changing in the UK with a drive towards community care and reducing inpatient provision. More needs to be known about the experiences and opinions of individuals living in inpatient settings. Women with intellectual disabilities and offending behavior are a particularly complex, under-represented group affected by these organizational changes. This research aims to consult women with intellectual disabilities, living in a secure hospital, to explore their housing experiences and hopes for future home and care environments.MethodSeven participant’s experiences, and the meaning they assign to these experiences, were explored through semi-structured interviews. Their narratives were analyzed utilizing Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis.ResultsFour superordinate themes emerged from the analysis (i) hospital as helpful (ii) hospital as undesirable (iii) a sense of belonging (iv) ‘I want to be as independent as I can.’ The subtheme ‘importance of people’ emerged throughout with illustrations of why people are important relating to each superordinate theme.ConclusionsThe women interviewed experienced living in hospital as both helpful and undesirable. They wanted to live as independently as possible in the community. However, they identified several helpful aspects of hospital including receiving specialist support for their complex needs. They desired independence, freedom to choose, personal space, familiarity, and support from individuals who understand their needs. Whilst it is recognized that hospitals cannot be homes for people, they do have a function in providing helpful specialist support to some individuals with intellectual disabilities who have committed serious crimes and/or cannot safely be supported in the community.

Experiences of employed women with attention deficit hyperactive disorder: A phenomenological study.

Employees with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) face various risks in the workplace. Little is known of the specific challenges women with ADHD experience. To explore the experiences of working women with ADHD and learn the strategies and accommodations that facilitate their maintaining employment. Qualitative phenomenological approach was used to echo women's subjective perceptions and experiences representing their daily interactions in their workplace. In-depth interviews were conducted with eleven tertiary-educated employed women (M = 33.5; SD = 6.61 years), diagnosed with ADHD and the transcripts were analyzed by three researchers, using the qualitative phenomenological approach. Most interviewed women with ADHD described interactions with their workplace as confusing, overwhelming, and chaotic. They perceived their ADHD as a significant obstacle to success in employment that also conferred some advantages. Three interview themes are explored here (1) challenges in coping with job demands and the workplace, including the disclosure dilemma; (2) personal coping strategies; (3) useful accommodations. For the women interviewed, employment was important for their self-identity, beyond simply making a living. Their experiences indicate impaired executive functioning and inhibition and sensory sensitivity, consistently with theoretical models for ADHD. They identified gender-specific issues, such as using medication during pregnancy, which led them to seek for non-pharmacological coping mechanisms. They contributed practical knowledge regarding employee-led adaptations and employer-provided workplace accommodations.

On a correct diet: exploration of the orthorexia construct from the essential nuclei of experimental discourse

Abstract Objectives: To explore the experience lived by some women who are concerned with following a natural and organic diet. Method: The qualitative analysis of the discourse was done as a bricolage (thematic content analysis and phenomenological interpretative analysis, using different ad hoc techniques). Results: The subjective experience of women consists of a phenomenological field that defines their historicity: past, represented by the theme "Why did you choose to eat like this"; present, "An optimism recreated"; and imagined future, "Absence of disease as object of ideal consciousness". This phenomenological field evolves, in experience and discourse, as an intermittent dilation of the theme "The expansion of consciousness in the right appetite". Conclusions: The orthorexia construct and the correct appetite discourses should be explored in greater depth by the scientific community in order to investigate: social stigmatization of people concerned with healthy eating and, in an associated way, pathologization of condition.