Expressive writing for wildfire-affected pregnant women: Themes of challenge and resilience
Section snippets
Background
In May 2016, the 88,000 residents of northern Alberta's remote community of Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo (FMWB) were expeditiously evacuated due to a massive wildfire. Nicknamed “The Beast,” the wildfire burned 579,767 ha of land [4,5] between April 30th and June 1st. Damaging or destroying over 2400 buildings at a cost of $4.5 billion US dollars and $3.7 billion Canadian dollars in insured losses [6,7], it became the costliest disaster in Canadian history. Furthermore, 7.6 million work hours
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to report on the themes that emerged in the course of the qualitative analysis of the EW journal entries of women who were pregnant or pre-conception at the time of the wildfire. A report of the effects of the EW intervention on the negative impacts of stress in this population is beyond the scope of this article.
Research questions
The following research questions were developed in keeping with those that the women were invited to write about, as well as others for which the research team sought answers: (1) What were the women's worst fears related to the wildfire? (2) How did relationships change during and after the fire? (3) Was the wildfire the most traumatic experience of the women's lives; if not, what were other traumatic experiences? (4) What conflicts had the women experienced? How had they dealt with these
Sample criteria
Study participants included women who were (1) residents of FMWB in May 2016, (2) able to read and write in English, (3) of childbearing age (15–45 years) and (4) pregnant at the time of or became pregnant within 6 months after wildfire. Given that the entire population of FMWB, except for emergency workers, was rapidly ordered to evacuate using one of two roads out of the city, it was assumed that all residents had some degree of exposure to the wildfire.
Recruitment
The research study and recruitment were
Demographics
Participants included 54 women, ranging in age from 24 to 42 years (M = 31.15, SD = 8.41), who were married (n = 42, 77.8%), living with a partner (n = 11, 20.4%), or divorced (n = 1, 1.9%). Participants held Bachelor's degree (n = 20, 37%), had attended college (n = 19, 35.2%), had a high school diploma (n = 7, 13%), master's degree (n = 4, 7.4%), technical/associate's diploma (n = 3, 5.6%) or a doctoral degree (n = 1, 1.9%). Most of the participants (74.2%) reported an annual household income
Discussion
This article presents the findings of a qualitative analysis conducted on EW entries penned online by women who were pregnant or soon to conceive at the time of the FMWB wildfire. The purpose of the study was to identify themes emerging from analysis of the women's EW. The findings captured details of the women's challenging experiences as well as practices, strategies and characteristics of resilience. In conducting the qualitative thematic data analysis, four unexpected findings emerged.
Conclusion
Study findings offer insight into the experiences of pregnant women exposed to a disaster of natural origin and the resilience they possessed amidst the most difficult of life circumstances. Study participants wrote about their fears, changes to their relationships, and prior experiences with trauma. While it is evident that the wildfire was a profoundly stressful and life-altering experience, the women's EW entries also highlight the resilience that they possessed and strategies and practices
Funding source
Project funded by the Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR- 2-year, $500,000, #381589).
Declaration of competing interest
There are no conflicts of interests to declare.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the women and community of FMWB who generously gave of their time and experience for the benefit of the community at large, and other populations who might endure similar experiences.
References (66)
- et al.
Disaster-related prenatal maternal stress influences birth outcomes: project Ice Storm
Early Hum. Dev.
(2011) Stress, definitions, mechanisms, and effects outlined: lessons from anxiety
- et al.
The concept of allostasis in biology and biomedicine
Horm. Behav.
(2003) - et al.
Allostasis: a theoretical framework for understanding and evaluating perinatal health outcomes
J. Obstet. Gynecol. Neonatal Nurs.
(2007) - et al.
Immune function and HPA axis activity in free-ranging rhesus macaques
Physiol. Behav.
(2011) - et al.
Posttraumatic growth in clinical psychology—a critical review and introduction of a two-component model
Clin. Psychol. Rev.
(2006) - et al.
Effects of expressive writing intervention for women's PTSD, depression, anxiety and stress related to pregnancy: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Psychiatr. Res.
(2020) - et al.
Research electronic data capture (REDCap) - a metadata-driven methodology and workflow process for providing translational research informatics support
J. Biomed. Inf.
(2009) - et al.
From treatment to healing: inquiry and response to recent and past trauma in adult health care
Wom. Health Issues
(2019) - et al.
Allostatic load and preterm birth
Int. J. Mol. Sci.
(2015)
Confronting a traumatic event: toward an understanding of inhibition and disease
J. Abnorm. Psychol.
Expressive writing, emotional upheavals, and health
Public Safety Canada. Canadian Disaster Database
Infographic: Fort McMurray 2016 Wildfire Economic Impact
2016 Annual Global Climate and Catastrophe Report
StatCan and the Alberta Wildfire
The impact of traumatic stress during pregnancy on the development of perinatal maternal depression
J. Trauma Stress
A conceptual framework for the developmental origins of health and disease
Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease
Disasters and perinatal health: a systematic review
Obstet. Gynecol. Surv.
A systematic review of the health effects of prenatal exposure to disaster
Int. J. Publ. Health
Stress without distress
Committee on Recognition and Alleviation of Distress in Laboratory Animals
Stress, adaptation, and disease. Allostasis and allostatic load
Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci.
Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators
N. Engl. J. Med.
Stress, corticotropin-releasing hormone, glucocorticoids, and the immune/inflammatory response: acute and chronic effects
Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci.
Biomarkers of psychological stress in health disparities research
Open Biomarkers J.
Resilience and disaster risk reduction: an etymological journey
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.
Adolescent resilience: a framework for understanding healthy development in the face of risk
Annu. Rev. Publ. Health
The development of competence in favorable and unfavorable environments: lessons from research on successful children
Am. Psychol.
Social-ecological resilience and biosphere-based sustainability science
Ecol. Soc.
Disaster resilience: a bounce back or bounce forward ability?
Local Environ.
The posttraumatic growth inventory: measuring the positive legacy of trauma
J. Trauma Stress
Cited by (12)
Exposure to wildfires and health outcomes of vulnerable people: Evidence from US data
2023, Economics and Human BiologyThe journey towards active self-care and empowerment: Insights from a thematic analysis of a women's therapeutic expressive writing group (UK)
2023, Counselling and Psychotherapy ResearchExperiencing Trauma During or Before Pregnancy: Qualitative Secondary Analysis After Two Disasters
2023, Maternal and Child Health JournalAuthor experiences of researching, writing and marketing climate fiction
2023, Text (Australia)Resilience and prenatal mental health in Pakistan: a qualitative inquiry
2022, BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth