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Purpose: This study aimed to explore the significance and insights derived from the experiences of pregnant women in Korea who participated in online prenatal education during the COVID-19 pandemic., Methods: This study employed the hermeneutic phenomenology framework developed by Colaizzi. It involved 12 pregnant women who participated in online prenatal education provided by public health centers in Chuncheon, Korea. Data collection was achieved through in-depth interviews conducted in Korea from October 2021 to April 2022., Results: In total, 51 significant statements were extracted from the interview data and then categorized into 10 themes. Finally, three categories were formed by merging similar themes. The three basic categories of participants' experiences of online prenatal education were "feeling of safety and comfort in body and mind," "frustrated by a lack of interaction," and "digital education being a double-edged sword." Pregnant women expressed ambivalence regarding the benefits and drawbacks of the online educational experience. They desired more interactive and practical learning opportunities, even as they appreciated the comfort of learning remotely., Conclusion: This study revealed the phenomenon of online prenatal education as an advanced form of distance-based prenatal education instead of the traditional in-person classroom. To maximize the educational effectiveness of this new format, public health center policies must address the digital literacy gap and enhance accessibility by leveraging the immersive multimedia experiences that online education offers to pregnant women. We recommend that maternal healthcare providers adopt this innovative approach to prenatal education, utilizing distance education technology to improve participation and promote immersion.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the experiential meaning of child-rearing for marriage immigrant women in Korea in the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic., Methods: Using the hermeneutic descriptive phenomenology framework developed by Colaizzi, 10 marriage immigrant women rearing preschool and school-age children were invited through purposive and snowball sampling from two multicultural support centers in Korea. The participants were rearing one or two children, and their original nationalities were Vietnamese, Japanese, Cambodian, and Chinese. Individual in-depth, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted from September 1 to November 30, 2021. We extracted significant statements from the transcripts, transformed these into abstract formulations, and organized them into theme clusters and themes to authentically capture the essence of the participants' subjective experiences., Results: Four theme clusters with 14 themes were derived. The four theme clusters identified were "navigating child healthcare alone," "guilt for not providing a social experience," "worry about media-dependent parenting," and "feelings of incompleteness and exclusion." This study explored the perspectives of mothers raising children as marriage migrant women who experienced physical and emotional health crises due to the COVID-19 pandemic., Conclusion: The findings underscore that marriage immigrant women encountered heightened challenges in managing their children's health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic due to linguistic and cultural barriers limiting access to healthcare and information. Additionally, these women experienced considerable emotional stress from perceived inadequacies in providing a holistic social and developmental environment for their children under extensive social restrictions.