Gestação e pandemia de covid-19: vivências e redes sociais significativas

Abstract

The pandemic caused by the infection of COVID-19 is a public health emergency of international importance that has directly impacted the health of the population. Besides the challenges faced by the health system, the consequences of the new coronavirus has caused a context of socioeconomic vulnerability and also on people's mental health, through the adoption of harsh measures to combat and confront COVID-19. The seriousness of this problem allied to the novelty of the disease contributes to the potentiation of stress in the face of the situation, especially among the groups classified as being at risk. The pregnant women included in this group have faced new challenges in addition to those already characteristic of this transitional period. Therefore, the significant social support network constitutes an important protective factor for the health of pregnant women at this time. From this perspective, through descriptive and exploratory qualitative research, we sought to investigate the experience of pregnancy and map the significant social network of pregnant women users of the SUS during the pandemic period of COVID-19. For data apprehension, a sociodemographic sheet, a semi-structured interview, and a Network Map were used. The process of systematization and data analysis was carried out by means of thematic categorical content analysis, and the results were presented in two articles. The first one discusses pregnancy in the scenario of the pandemic of the COVID-19 and the second deals with the Significant Social Network of pregnant women users of the SUS. The data allowed a better understanding of this problem, showing that the main feelings highlighted in relation to pregnancy in the pandemic scenario were fear, sadness and loneliness, the challenges encountered were the need for social isolation, the withdrawal from the support network and the problems of professional and financial order, the most used coping practices by pregnant women, facing the situation as a whole, was the search for family support network and the experience of spirituality. Regarding the significant social network, most of the networks mapped are small, located mainly in the quadrants family and friendship relationships, presenting as main functions the emotional support and social companionship. Finally, it was found that the experience of pregnancy in the context of the pandemic of COVID-19, requires efforts to overcome the immense challenges. Significant Social Networking becomes effective, in this context, by enabling the activation of support and access to significant bonds in mental health care. In this context, the network constitutes an important social support for pregnant women in the development of coping practices and access to health protection factor in the midst of exposure to various risk factors.