MOM! AND NOW? PERSPECTIVES OF PRIMIPAROUS WOMEN ON PREGNANCY AND MOTHERHOOD

Abstract

The gestational period should be considered a unique event and marked by psychological, social, biological and physical changes that characterize this moment and influence the constitution of motherhood and the mother-baby relationship. The changes are complex and individual, differ among women and can result in fears, doubts, anxieties or curiosities. Therefore, this study aimed to understand the meanings of the experiences of pregnancy and motherhood in primiparous women. A qualitative research was carried out and data were collected from semi-structured interviews with 10 primiparous women. Data analysis was performed using the software Interface de R pour les Analyzes Multidimensionnelles de Textes et de Questionnaires (IRaMuTeQ). According to the reports, it was identified that the birth of a child can influence the lives of mothers, highlighting the variety of feelings that this experience awakens. Furthermore, this period of the individual and family development cycle can come to mean demands, internal and external, influenced by the social, economic and cultural context of the woman's life. Finally, studies like this are necessary since they contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge and denote the importance of listening to the mother who is experiencing a peculiar moment in her life, and that the support network and health professionals must necessarily be present in the process. in order to provide individual and collective spaces to promote the mental health of the mother-baby dyad.