Table 5.
Beliefs About the Etiology of CFM
| Caregiver(n = 39) | Adult(n = 8) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theme/Sample response | n | % | n | % |
| Unknown/unsure | 12 | 31 | 3 | 38 |
| “no idea whatsoever” (female, age 17) | ||||
| General genetic cause | 8 | 21 | 2 | 25 |
| “figure it is genetics somewhere” (female, age 15) | ||||
| Circulation issue during pregnancy | 7 | 18 | 1 | 13 |
| “I think blood was cut off to the uterus for some reason” (female, age 8) | ||||
| Random | 6 | 15 | 2 | 25 |
| “I know it was basically just a random thing that happens – no real reason” (female adult) | ||||
| Genetic inheritance | 6 | 15 | -- | -- |
| “family heritage”(male, age 7) | ||||
| Parental medication use before or during pregnancy | 6 | 15 | -- | -- |
| “I did take Accutane 3 times: 17 years, 10 years, and 8 years prior to conception and my husband took it [approximately] 18 years prior to conception” (female, age 3) | ||||
| General medical issues during pregnancy | 5 | 13 | 2 | 25 |
| “in my opinion, I think my gestational diabetes contributed” (female, age 2) | ||||
| Environmental/toxic exposures during pregnancy | 5 | 13 | -- | -- |
| “exposure to pesticides occurred during the time I was pregnant but did not know yet” (male, age 6) | ||||
| Religious explanation | 2 | 5 | -- | -- |
| “it was the way God created him” (male, age 13) | ||||
| No attribution of fault | 1 | 3 | 1 | 13 |
| “no fault of birth mom” (male, age 5) | ||||