Pregnancy-Related Anxiety Among Women Living With Epilepsy in Southeastern Türkiye: An Exploratory Qualitative Focus Group Study

Background Pregnancy-related concerns among women with epilepsy are well described, including fear of seizures, antiseizure medication (ASM) exposure, fetal harm, childbirth, stigma, and parenting. Less is known about how these concerns interact within specific sociocultural and healthcare contexts and how they shape coping and treatment behavior. This study explored how women with epilepsy in southeastern Türkiye experienced pregnancy-related anxiety, how clinical and social concerns intersected, and how women responded to these concerns. Methods This qualitative descriptive study was conducted at a university hospital in southeastern Türkiye. The neurology outpatient clinic records for the predefined screening period included 561 women with epilepsy. Record screening identified 20 women who had experienced at least one pregnancy while living with epilepsy and met the study eligibility criteria. All 20 eligible women were invited to participate; 10 agreed to participate and took part in two focus groups, whereas the remaining 10 declined. Discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using inductive thematic content analysis supported by MAXQDA 2020. Reporting was developed with reference to COREQ. Given the small sample and the use of only two focus groups, the findings are presented as exploratory and context-bound rather than representative, and full thematic saturation cannot be assured. Results Sixty-two codes were organized into seven interconnected themes: epilepsy as bodily unpredictability; seizure-related anxiety; concerns about fetal health; childbirth-related anxiety; concerns about the child’s future health and safety; social pressure and stigma; and coping strategies. Within this small sample, women described a recurring tension between preventing seizures and protecting the fetus from perceived medication-related harm. Family involvement could be protective or distressing, and some participants reported skipping medication because of fetal-harm concerns. Conclusions The study does not identify wholly new categories of concern; rather, it provides context-specific evidence on how established concerns may cluster and interact in women’s accounts in southeastern Türkiye. The findings highlight areas for further investigation, including repeated risk communication, medication-adherence discussions, family-sensitive support, and psychological assessment. These implications should be evaluated in larger and more diverse samples before broad practice recommendations are made.