Abstract

BUDZYN, Carine da Silva; WENDLAND, Jaqueline  and  LEVANDOWSKI, Daniela Centenaro. Baby's Representations of South Brazilian Pregnant Adolescents. Rev. Psicol. IMED [online]. 2017, vol.9, n.1, pp. 69-86. ISSN 2175-5027.  http://dx.doi.org/10.18256/2175-5027.2017.v9i1.1627.

This study has investigated representations of the baby of 16 South Brazilian pregnant adolescents (aged 13 to 18 years old). They were all primiparous, living in the city of Porto Alegre and surroundings, and responded to a semi-structured interview during the second trimester of their pregnancy. Qualitative content analysis of interviews showed a variety of representations, but also some difficulty to provide descriptions of them. Preference regarding the infant's gender was also mentioned and justified by many reasons, such as the pleasure to doll up (girl) and the greater facility for educating (boy). The choice of baby's name was also guided by many reasons, such as being the name of a relative, and was based on individual or joint decision with the partner and/or family members. Regarding the infant's physical characteristics, representations of hair, eyes and skin color have emerged, as well as body weight and height. These representations were based on characteristics of the participants themselves, their partners or their family members. The representations of the baby's emotional traits were also based on couple or family members. Overall, infant representations of pregnant adolescents do not seem to differ from those of expectant adults. Maternal representations should to be considered by health professionals while monitoring pregnant adolescents given their important repercussions for future mother-baby relationship.

Keywords : adolescent pregnancy; maternal-fetal relations; mother-child relations.

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