Investigating The Impact Of Alcohol On Pregnancy Disorders In Young Women

Background

Topic: “To investigate the Impact of alcohol over the pregnancy disorder in young age women”.

The consumption of alcohol is increasing as the more and more adult people have been addicted but at the same time, women are also indulging into the consumption of alcohol at the time of pregnancy. It is also revealed that 15% of pregnant women are consuming alcohol. Along with this, the rate of consumption is also increasing with the 20% (Davies, et al. 2017). If women use the drug during the pregnancy than it might be resulted into the negative impact over the young age women’s health and baby as well. At the same time, it is also revealed that the drinking during pregnancy, can be resulted into the fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and the women can face the problem at the time of baby birth. Moreover, the alcohol consumption number of women during the pregnancy is increasing at it the 10.2% women drunk alcohol in the past 25-30 days. At the same time, pregnant women drunk 4.6 times in the past 30 days as compared to the non – pregnant women as the non-pregnant women reported as 3.1 times drink in the past 30 days. Moreover, 3.3 million from the age group of 15 to 44 years are at risk for the unintentional exposure the new born baby (Oh, Gonzalez, Salas-Wright, Vaughn, and DiNitto, 2017). Due to the alcohol, several women might lead towards the pregnancy disorder as they might lose the control over pregnancy. Drinking during the childbearing age has become a public health issue for the common public and drinking is also not uncommon in the young ladies so the study is accessed for determining the impact of alcohol. In relation to this, the alcoholic women who are pregnant, they might face the problem of fetal syndrome system. In relation to this, the alcohol might also influence the first pass metabolism, and the higher consumption of alcohol might also impact the dehydrogenase in the gastric mucosa of women body. On the other hand, the fetal system in body is directly related to the diagnostic criteria and facial features (Lange,et al. 2017). Apart from this, the higher consumption of alcohol might also leads towards the physical and psychological impact over the young age women. The physical problem might occur as sexually transmitted infections that might impact the pregnancy. In addition to this, miscarries might also occur. Moreover, the physical risks are also as seizures, malnutrition and cancer of the mouth, breast and esophagus (Eilertsen, et al. 2017). On the other hand, the psychological problem might also occur as anxiety, depression, sexual assault, disability in work and domestic violence. Over this, it is also researched that the alcohol consumption impacts the body differently to each young women and men. The young age women in influenced from the drinking during pregnancy but at the same time, new born baby might also be influenced from the higher consumption of alcohol. In relation to this, the body part as brain, spinal cord and metabolism can also be impacted in significant manner. It is also determined that the many new born babies might also die due to the adverse impact in their heart, kidney and lings. With relation to this, the central nervous system might also be influenced that affects the problem like sleep, arousal, hyperactivity, memory deficit and cognitive impairment can also affect the body of young age women.

Research Questions

Over the research, it can also be introduced that the pregnancy is a major part of the women life so there are several diagnosis are available for the women to control the consumption of alcohol. This research is rationale for the researcher to quest for the in-depth and practical knowledge about the research issue. In relation to this, it is justified that the chosen research problem is really becoming serious in our societies as young age women are getting addicted for alcohol and it affecting the new born baby and the mother as well so it has become a situation to understand the adverse impact of alcohol. In order to solve the problems, the research investigation is carried out with the support of qualitative evaluation (Gentile, 2017). This study is justified and rationale for the students in order to explore the new knowledge about the impact of alcohol over the pregnant women. In addition to this, this investigation is also crucial for the future researcher to carry out and take information from the research which might be value additive for the solution of concerned research investigation.

The qualitative and quantitative studies investigations for the young age women who consume the drink in order to provide the better solution for less or controlled drinking of alcohol. Over the results, the major focus on reducing the alcohol consumption might not revealed. Thus, the main aim of this study is to determine the impact of alcohol over the pregnancy disorder in young age women. 

The research questions have been developed in order to carry out the investigation for a justified research study.

Q.1. How the alcohol influences the fetal and metabolism system in the young age women?

Q.2. How the alcohol can affect the internal body of young age women in relation to occur the pregnancy disorders?

Q.3. What are the protective measures that can be taken to control the drinking of alcohol by young age women?

The main aims and objectives of this research study are explored to investigate

1. To investigate how the metabolism and fetal syndrome system of young age women is impacted.
2. To determine the adverse impact of alcohol over the pregnancy disorder in young age women.
3. To examine the protective actions that can be taken for safe baby birth.

In order to carry out this research investigation, explanatory research theory is employed so that the understanding about the pregnancy disorder due to the drinking alcohol occurs. It is important to understand how young women influenced from the alcohol consumption. Explanatory model is developed for the development of research in detailed and in- depth manner (Guertin, Barbeau, Pelletier and Martinelli, 2017). This model will also elaborate the how the human body is influenced from the alcohol consumption and what actions should be taken to come out from this disease.       

Aims and Objectives

In order to make a make plan for the collection of relevant information about the research issue, it is essential for the researcher to design an effective and appropriate research methodology. In this part, the researchers use different methods, approaches and data collection methods are discussed that can be used in data collection process during investigating the research issue (Lewis, 2015). From the different researches as well as studies, it is observed that research design is one of the most significant part of research study, which is used to design the entire structure or format for the research in which the research can be done in the most effective as well as efficient manner. The research design is basically a strategy, which is used to promote or define the blueprint for different data collection methods as well as for data analysis. The various types of data are typically collected from different resources as per the requirements of the research project (Maxwell, 2012). There are two types of research designs i.e. qualitative research design and quantitative research design. The qualitative research design is an effective way of analyzing the arguments of different scholars and opinions, feelings, shared views and attitude of the research participants regarding the research issue. In qualitative research design, non-measurable data are used to obtain the reliable research outcomes (Meyers et al., 2016). Further, qualitative research design is also used for finding the best possible solution for the problems or issues which have been observed within the research study and these are also aligned with the objectives which are developed for the research study. On the other hand, the qualitative research design leads to analysis of different hypothetical data and measurable data are used to obtain the research outcomes. As well as, different statistical data are used by the researchers to analyze the collected data. This is also generally related to different figures or facts in order to interpret the best possible outcomes or results for the overall research study or project (Mitchell and Jolley, 2012). The research study is based on the existence and behavior of the young age women in pregnancy while using alcohol. In this concern, the researcher will use qualitative data to analyze the impact of alcohol over the pregnancy disorder in young age women.

Ethnography framework is considered as a methodological framework, which can be used by the researchers to investigate a qualitative research study. It is a contextual method for qualitative research designs as it provides holistic understanding about participants or events in setting of the research study. According to Padilla et al., (2015), ethnography framework is not only helpful in understanding the human experiences but also helpful in delivering necessitate of humanity. In this concern, ethnography framework also provides deep understanding about the behaviour and attitude of the individuals and provides better opportunities to discover the new ways for the pregnant ladies to improve their health and well-being (Koskinen, 2014). As well as, the researcher will be able to identify better ways of reducing the habit of alcohol during pregnancy. Fundamentally, an ethnographer obtains the information in the ethnography research through implementation of different methods (Higginbottom et al., 2013). In addition, ethnography research studies rely on the ethnographer to observe routine activities of the research participants for an extended period of time by listening to them, looking at them and asking them a query (Carroll et al., 2011). In this concern, the information is collected with proper focus on the research problem. Besides the field work is also considered as an essential part of ethnographic research. Field work provides a consequential and contextual understanding about the human relationship. Since the main objective of this research study is to examine the perception, attitude, knowledge and behaviour of women about the use of alcohol during the time of pregnancy (Carspecken, 2013). In this concern, ethnography framework will be helpful for the researcher in attaining the research objectives in more meaningful manner.

Research Design

Research participants:

The research study will be conducted on the pregnant women who have admitted in The Royal Women’s Hospital and habitual of alcohol. An interview will be conducted with these women with structured and open-ended questions. The women aged between 21 to 40 years will be selected for this research study.

Recruitment process:

In order to accomplish the ethnography research study in a realistic and viable manner, entire process will be conducted in a systematic way (Taylor et al., 2015). At the initial stage, different recruitment procedures will be held. During the collection of data, at first the gatekeeper of The Royal Women’s Hospital will get in touch to take permission to conduct the research issue. The gatekeeper will inform to the management of the hospital about this research study and provide permission to enter in the staff and meet with the female pregnant women. The positive response from the management of The Royal Women’s Hospital will allow the researcher to commence the investigation. In this process, the research participants will be selected on basis of different criteria such as age, gender and ethnic group to cover an effective range of research participants. After that, the research participants will be selected purposively with the help of the supervisors or the leaders in the hospital. After the selection of research participants a written consent form will be filled to introduce the research participants about the purpose of the research study. This consent form will provide confidentiality to the research participants that the information collected from the research participants will not be used for another purpose and their authenticity will not be disclosed among others. The consent form will be helpful for the research participants in getting information about the nature and purpose of the research study. The confidentiality of maintaining personal information will create interest in the research participants to provide appropriate information about the research issue (Nishimura et al., 2013). In addition, the research participants will have freedom to breach the signed consent form at any time of the research study. In this concern, each aspect of the research participants will be considered during the research process to improve the authenticity of the research outcomes.

The research study is based on purposive sampling method or non-probability sampling method as it is deliberated for the selection of specific individuals to gain appropriate information and improve the authenticity of the research outcomes (Suresh and Chandrashekara, 2012). In addition, the non- probability sampling method helpful in providing in-depth understanding about the research study. The sampling process is much flexible so that the number of research participants will not be known (Baltar and Brunet, 2012). As well as, the research study is qualitative so that it is not necessary to have a fixed number of research participants. Due to the sensitivity of the research study, it will be difficult to locate the number of respondents. In this concern, a small number of research participants will be selected to accomplish the research study in reliable manner. In this concern, the theory of saturation will be used in this research study in which the number of research participant remains unidentified (Walker, 2012). However, 20 research participants will be selected to begin the ethnographic methodological framework during fieldwork.

Ethnography Framework

In a research study, it is essential for a researcher to select an appropriate method of data collection. In this section, different important aspects are elucidated using sampling and population, different types of data as well as various methods used to collect the data in effective manner (Bohl et al., 2014). On the basis of different collected data, analysis for data will be done using different statistical tools in order to interpret useful information that can be used for further studies. There are majorly two types of data collection methods i.e. primary data collection methods and secondary data collection method (Geers et al., 2011). Under the primary data collection method, the data are collected directly from the research participants through interview and survey strategy. On the other hand, the primary data collection method is used by the researcher to collect the data from already published content such as journals, articles, newspapers and books. In this research study, interview strategy will be used to collect the primary data. As well as, the primary data will be used to support the primary data in effective manner (Rhodes et al., 2014). In addition, the field work is also an essential part of ethnography research studies as it is helpful in for the ethnographers to encounter with the civilization in way of vision sound thought and action which recommends them in writing attractive text.

In-depth interview

During the process of interview the personal information of the respondents will be disclosed with prior sign of consent form. After the sign on consent form, the researcher will conduct interview with the research participants for one to two hours to attain entire essential information from the respondent (Liddy et al., 2011). The location of the interview will be selected by the respondent. There will be an interview guide to ensure that entire required questions are asked with the research participants. The interview will be started with some introductory or opening questions about the research participants. The opening questions will be related to history of the using alcohol and general discussion about the research participant’s health (Palinkas et al., 2015). The questions will be asked in understandable language of the research participants and no any hearth touching or sentimental questions will be asked as it may hamper the research process and increase the timing of the interview. The main focus of the interview is to gain understanding about the impact of using alcohol on health of pregnant women. The next part of the interview will address the questions related to the views of the women about the use of alcohol after getting pregnancy. In this concern, the aim of the interview is to investigate the understanding and experience of the research participants for use of alcoholic products during pregnancy. In third section of the interview, the researcher will look on decision making process from the perspectives of research participants (Hair et al., 2015). Before, interview finishing the interview process, the research participants will be invited to provide own opinions on further improvement of the research issue in proper manner. At the end of interview process, member checking method will be used to provide a copy of interview transcript to each of the research participant.

In this research study, an interview guide will be developed to ensure that entire issues are covered during the interview.

Field work

In this research field work will be initiated by stepping into cultural or social circumstances during the use of alcohol of pregnant women and to explore the attitude and perception of the participants. Field work will be helpful in observing and describing the behaviour and attitude of the research participants in effective manner (Lynch, 2017).

Participation observation

It is an effective qualitative method of collecting appropriate data that are crucial for the ethnography research studies. This method will be helpful in obtaining the primary data from the research participants. Under this method, the ethnographer turns into the part of the cultural environment.

Field notes

The documentation of the observation and experience during the participation is called as field notes. These notes will be documented quickly after the observation and participation.

Under the data analysis part, the collected data are analysed to conclude the research outcomes in more reliable manner. There are different ways of analysing the collected data. The major methods of analysing the collected data are statistic analysis, thematic analysis, SPSS analysis and mathematical analysis. In this research study, thematic analysis tool will be used to analyse the collected data and obtain research outcomes in more realistic manner. The recording of interview will be transcribed to enable the data for proper analysis (Riff et al., 2014). The transcribed data will be read and analysed to find out different themes that have risen during the process of coding. Mainly, there are four levels of coding through which the qualitative data can be analysed in effective manner. These levels are open or descriptive coding, interpretive coding, focused coding and selective coding. Descriptive coding is the initial phase of coding in which the data are sorted and organized in presentation for focused coding, where the codes will be used to develop a sense of the collected data. After that, the axial coding will be used to organize the codes and organize them to found the links between the data (Grbich, 2012). In next phase, the selective coding is occurred to analyse the data to identify the themes and make fundamental relationship, expand theoretical assemble and draw a valid conclusion.

The ethics are considered as rules and regulations that administer the research practices in professional manner. In this concern, the ethics are helpful in developing the moral standards for the conducted research study. If, the ethics are ignored than it will impact on dignity and value of the research study (Harriss and Atkinson, 2011). Therefore, ethics plays an essential role in the qualitative research studies to explore the truth, avoid errors, develop public support, respect social responsibility and honour the human rights. In this regard, the research study will follow knowledgeable consent justice and anonymity.

In this research study, the personal information of the research participants will be secured and not disclosed in front of others to reduce the issues from the research participants. Prior permission from the administration department of the hospital will be taken to eliminate the future concerns from the hospital (Silverman, 2016). In addition, the research study will not pose any biological or physical threat to the research participants. The participants will be informed about the purpose of the research study through a proper signed consent form from the research participants.

It is not possible to include entire aspects of the research issue in a specific research study. In this concern, there will be some possibility of limitations for each of the research study. The first limitation of this research study is time limitation and budget for interview and fieldwork that restricts to access of the data. In addition, if the gatekeeper of the hospital not provides permission to enter in the hospital for the purpose of the research study than the research study cannot be initiated. In addition, the research study is associated to a small number of research participants so that it is enable to provide an accurate conclusion of the research study. In addition, the research study is related to a specific issue of a health concern in pregnant ladies so that it cannot be used for support of other subjective matter in other field of the research studies.  

In order to accomplish each of the research activity, in a specified time, it is essential to make a time line in which each of the research activity will be accomplished in proper manner. The timeline for the research study is as below:

Activity	Duration	Date
Preparation of Literature review	3 months	November 2018 – January 2018
Presentation of the research proposal	1 month	February 2019
Ethical approval for the research	2 months	March 2019 – April 2019
Data collection process	3 months	May 2019 – July 2019
Analysis of the collected data	3 months	August 2019 – October 2019
Write up report	1 months	November 2019
Submission	1 month	December 2019

 

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