Objective: To explore the experiences endured by women while in a high-risk pregnancy, reported in the scientific literature during 2005-2011. Methods: Qualitative documental study. Analysis units were the scientific papers published worldwide in Spanish, English and Portuguese during 2005 to 2011. Data were treated by contents analysis. Results: Bibliographic search rendered twenty papers dealing with the study objective. All of them had qualitative focus, fourteen of them were papers published in the so-called underdeveloped world; most frequent publication occurred around 2010. From the analysis emerged two main topics: the women´s experiences while in a high-risk pregnancy from a pathologic condition, and those product of a pregnancy in early or late reproductive age. Conclusion: The role of the pregnant support networks is underlined: family, other women sharing their condition and health professionals; also were of note the difficulties during hospitalization and the technical jargon used by those professionals. Nursing care should focus to reinforce the networks and to procure better environment for the inpatients. The experiences endured by pregnant women living with HIV or by those women older than 35-year are still matter of pending research based upon qualitative focus.