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Fourteen Dutch women participated in semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed using thematic analysis. Three interconnected themes emerged: coping with stress, interpersonal and healthcare experiences, and the interplay between coping and interpersonal experiences. Women who described trusting and supportive interactions generally reported greater self-efficacy, more effective stress management, and more constructive communication with healthcare professionals. In contrast, women reporting interpersonal difficulties often described challenges with emotion regulation, long-standing weight-management struggles and coping with delayed reconstruction. Across participants, BMI-based eligibility criteria were experienced as a major psychosocial stressor. These findings suggest that preoperative weight-loss requirements may have substantial psychological consequences for women awaiting breast reconstruction. Personalized psychosocial support and sensitive physician communication may strengthen coping capacities, particularly among women experiencing stress-regulation difficulties and interpersonal challenges.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/13591053261479956","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,27]],"date-time":"2026-08-27T08:55:23Z","timestamp":1787820923000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Between hope and weight: Psychological experiences of women with obesity facing preoperative weight-loss requirements for breast reconstruction\u2014A qualitative thematic analysis"],"prefix":"10.1177","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0368-2508","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Iris L.","family":"Holt-Kedde","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Groningen, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1874-9346","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ceciel H. 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