This paper shows the results of a qualitative study, that adopted as a methodological line the "Grounded Theory" and as a method to the data collection the participating observation. The goal was to explore and understand the period of a pregnancy, as seen by pregnant women. The data were collected with four sample groups, including 96 women, from January to December 1987. Results of the study are a starting point to a substantive theory in development, "Living the Pregnancy": a dynamic process occurring in the woman's life within a context. Living such a process could be planned or not. Such course of living occurs along four sequential and interconnected stages, which were called Preceding the Beginning, the Beginning, the Middle, and the End of pregnancy.
woman; pregnancy; living the pregnancy; and living experience
