The experience of anxiety in pregnant women diagnosed with epilepsy

The aim of this study is to determine "the experience of anxiety in pregnant women diagnosed with epilepsy". The study, which has been determined as a qualitative study and applied on pregnant participants with epilepsy in 2019-2020, includes views on "anxiety experiences" of pregnant women with epilepsy and suggestions for solutions in the light of these views. The study group consists of women diagnosed with epilepsy who have experienced pregnancy at Gaziantep University Research and Practice Hospital located in the borders of Gaziantep province. The data included in the study was obtained through a focus group interview. In order to analyze the data obtained from focus group interviews, the qualitative data analysis techniques were used to compare and analyze the content. The data that was obtained from the interviews was made ready to be interpreted with the MAXQDA 2020 Data Analysis tool. 7 themes were determined according to the answers given to the research questions by the group of 10 participants. The themes identified are in the form of "definition of disease, seizure concerns, concerns about problems that may occur in the fetus, birth concerns, concerns about problems that may occur later in the baby, concerns about community pressure and methods of dealing with concerns". In line with these findings, appropriate recommendations were made to pregnant women with epilepsy, nurses, patient relatives and researchers.