Narratives play an important role in human experience. Our personal stories help to shape our sense of self and identity, and orientate us towards the future. However, as we are constantly making sense of everyday and major events in our lives, our personal story must be continuously revised, if it is to continue to help us hold things together. Narratives, therefore, have a particular resonance for individuals who need to reframe their lives after a particular crisis or trauma and, therefore, have a key role in nursing practice (Holloway and Freshwater, 2007).
This article, adapted from an unpublished thesis, focuses on the disruption felt by four pregnant women on discovering they had tested positive for HIV infection during routine antenatal screening. It presents a composite narrative from all four women's experiences, capturing the essence of the disruption to their lives caused by a diagnosis of HIV during pregnancy. It then draws on the work of American anthropologist Gay Becker (1997), as a framework for understanding how the women created continuity out of the disruption. Finally, it considers the therapeutic imperative of paying attention to, and facilitating the rewriting of, personal stories as part of nursing practice.