Maternal experiences in the first week of the premature hospitalization in intensive care

Abstract

Objective: to describe the maternal experience in the first week of premature newborn hospitalization in the neonatal intensive care unit. Method: qualitative, descriptive and exploratory study. The data were collected through a semi-structured interview with ten mothers who had a premature delivery from July to November 2015. Thematic Analysis of Bardin was used. Results: five categories of analysis portrayed the maternal experience with moments marked by sadness in seeing the child in the unit researched, the fear of his death, the insecurity of maintaining contact and of participating in their care and, at last, the uncertainties in knowing when they could return home. Conclusion: the maternal experience in the first week of hospitalization of the premature newborn in the neonatal intensive care unit is marked by suffering and fear.

Keywords

• enfermagem neonatal
• hospitalização
• mães
• recém-nascido prematuro
• unidades de terapia intensiva neonatal