This study sought to investigate the motivation for pregnancy of pregnant and postpartal women in Korea. Data collection was done in Korean general hospitals and midwifery clinics using 795 pregnant and postpartal women as participants.
Data was collected using a questionnaire consisting of eight items. A nationwide represantative sampling of subjects was done using a clustering sampling method. The 991 statements were grouped by case according to content analysis into ten categories: 'completion of family', 'extension of self identity', 'relatives', 'fate', 'completion of woman's role', 'symbol of love', 'acquisition of new position', 'investment for old age', 'maturing process', 'no motivation'.
The most outstanding motivation for pregnancy was rooted in cultural customs. The new findings in this study were found in the fallowing categories: 'formating sibling relationships', 'maturing process', 'participating in creating life'.
These findings will assist health care professionals in understanding and intervening in antepartum women's health care. As pregnancy is not only a woman's decision, we recommended further studies on pregnant couple's motivation for pregnancy to be done at the time of pregnancy and in retropect.