"Lights and Shadows": An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the Lived Experience of Being Diagnosed With Breast Cancer During Pregnancy.

ABSTRACT: Cancer diagnosed during pregnancy is a rare event. The most common type of malignancy diagnosed in pregnant women is breast cancer, whose incidence is expected to raise in the next future due to delayed childbirth, as well as to the increased occurrence of the disease at young age. Pregnant women diagnosed with breast cancer are exposed to multiple sources of stress, which may lead to poorer obstetric outcomes, such as preterm birth and low birth weight. In addition, pregnancy involves physiological changes in the breasts that may blur the signs of cancer, with delayed diagnosis and poor prognosis. However, the lived experience of these women was investigated in very few studies. Given this scenario, we conducted this qualitative study to describe and understand women's subjective experien

SUBMITTER: Facchin F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8049111 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature