understanding the meaning of lived experience maternal near miss: a qualitative study protocol

Introduction:maternal nearmiss (mnm) is defined as a woman who almost died but survived a serious maternal complication during pregnancy, childbirth, or within 42 days of completion of pregnancy. despite the longterm physical and psychological burden of this event on the mother’s life, the meaning of mnm is not clear. in addition, the mother’s role complicates the understanding of this phenomenon. therefore, this study aimed to understand lived experience of iranian nearmiss mothers in the postpartum period. methods:in this heideggerian phenomenological study, we used souza and colleagues’ theoretical framework to understand the meaning of the lived experience of nearmiss mothers indepth. the participants had experienced mnm at least one year ago by world health organization (who)approach in multicenter, academic, tertiary care hospitals in mashhad, iran. taking into account reflexivity and after obtaining ethical approval, participants were purposively sampled using semistructured interviews, and data analysis was conducted by diekelmann and colleagues up to data saturation. data collection and analysis has been argued by lincoln and guba. discussion:our findings resulted in updating the existing knowledge about the meaning of mnm and its implication. given the different needs and challenges of nearmiss mothers, it is necessary to design a supportive program of primary care for them. policymakers and managers should consider the lived experience of these mothers when planning and taking decisions.