'It's not me, it's them': how lesbian women make sense of negative experiences of maternity care: a hermeneutic study

摘要

Aim:The paper is a report of one aspect of a hermeneutic study of lesbian women's experiences of maternity care, specifically interpretations of negative experiences.Background: There is a growing body of literature in relation to lesbian women's experiences of maternity care. Although most commentators discuss the negative experiences encountered by lesbian mothers, there has been no contextual analysis of these expressions of negativity in an increasingly positive environment.Methods: The study was undertaken using a qualitative approach using an adapted Gadamerian hermeneutic phenomenology using unstructured interviews with eight women. The interviews took place between November 2007 and March 2008. All of the participants had disclosed their sexual orientation in pregnancy.