Five groups of 12 women (60 women in total) were selected for this study. The first group consisted of nulliparous women with a serious child wish. The second,
third and fourth groups consisted of nulliparous pregnant women at the end of the first, second or third trimester of the pregnancy. The fifth group consisted of pregnant women
who were at the end of the first trimester with their second child. Women included were aged between 20 and 40 years. The total number of 60 women in a similar and eminent life
phase (all involved in becoming or being pregnant) conforms with the requirements of qualitative research [18,20]. To avoid language difficulties in the research
groups, the respondents had to have been born and reared in The Netherlands.