Abstract

MARCIANO, Rafaela Paula. The maternal representations about a premature baby. Rev. SBPH [online]. 2017, vol.20, n.1, pp. 143-164. ISSN 1516-0858.

The birth marked by urgency happens concurrently with the risk of death, illness and/or disability, and can unfold in an intolerable uncertainty. The birth of risk marks only the beginning of a long medical and technological proceeding that will put on hold the definition of life and death for that baby. This potentially traumatic event can bring damage in maternity, affecting the mother-child relationship and the child's psychic constitution process. The objective of this research was to investigate the maternal representations of premature birth, through a qualitative study, based on psychoanalysis. 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted with mothers of premature babies during hospitalization of the child in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The data were subjected to content analysis and showed that preterm birth is a deconstruction of the image of the imaginary baby of pregnancy and affects the sustention of the maternal function. The results showed the necessity for a listening space for parents to assist them in the preparation of the imaginary baby mourning, rescuing the competence of the maternal function and the sustention of a symbolic place for the baby to come as a subject.

Keywords : prematurity; maternal representations; mother-baby bond.

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