Context: Prenatal care contributes to the prevention of complications for mother and fetus. When providing prenatal care, clinicians should consider the specific situation of vulnerable pregnant women. Literature reviews were mainly focused on specific vulnerabilities, such as social isolation or financial vulnerabilities. In practice, pregnant women frequently present a combination of vulnerabilities. Clinicians should adapt their care to vulnerable pregnant women, considering the prenatal nursing care experience of these women.

Objectives: The objectives were to 1) describe vulnerable pregnant women’s experience with prenatal nursing care, 2) examine how the nurse-pregnant woman relationship modulates the experience, and 3) identify strategies to improve prenatal nursing care based on vulnerable pregnant women’s recommendations.

Study design: Qualitative interpretative descriptive research (Thorne, 2016).

Setting: Community health services of the Province of Quebec that ensure vulnerable pregnant women’s follow-up.

Population studied: Thirty vulnerable pregnant women, 16 years old and over, in their second or third trimester, or having given birth in the last year, who received prenatal nursing care through community health services. The recruitment was conducted using maximum variation sampling based on age and vulnerability of pregnant women.

Outcome measures: Data collection methods included logbooks, a sociodemographic questionnaire, and one-hour semi-structured interviews (n=30) on vulnerable pregnant women’s experience with prenatal nursing care. Analysis was performed using De Casterlé, Gastmans, Bryon and Denier’s Qualitative Analysis Guide of Leuven (QUAGOL) approach (2012). The analysis method included a constant comparative process and co-coding to ensure study credibility.

Anticipated results: This research will generate new knowledge about vulnerable pregnant women’s experience with prenatal nursing care. It will describe how the nurse-pregnant woman relationship modulates prenatal care and identify strategies to improve prenatal nursing care. Preliminary results will be presented at the NAPCRG 2021 annual meeting.

Conclusion: The experience of vulnerable pregnant women is a key component in the improvement of prenatal primary care for these women.