Women's experiences of the prenatal group class in Indonesia

Objective: This study sought to understand the meaning of women's experiences of participating in a prenatal group class led by a maternity nurse specialist in Bekasi, West Java, Indonesia. Method: We used a phenomenological approach and recruited seven postpartum mothers at a nurse-led maternity clinic. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and were analyzed using Creswell's systematic coding process. Results: Six themes were found in this study: (1) reasons to join prenatal class, (2) having more preparation compared to former pregnancy, (3) having broader and detailed information, (4) benefitting from the prenatal yoga exercise, (5) having positive birth experience, and (6) receiving better support from the husband. Conclusions: The experiences of women participating in the prenatal group class reflect the importance of the prenatal health promotion done by the nurses. This study also implies the needs of pregnant women to receive more comprehensive antenatal education than what they normally obtain from standard care.