Impacto materno e coping frente ao diagnóstico de malformação fetal

Abstract

In the pregnancy-puerperal cycle, any mother can present levels of stress in the face of daily challenges and future expectations regarding the exercise of motherhood and the child that will be born. However, when the pregnant woman receives the diagnosis of fetal malformation, the impact of the news frustrates the expectation of a healthy baby and the fetal malformation is configured as a stressor to be faced. In this unexpected scenario, a process of adaptation to this new reality begins, which implies the use of coping strategies. This study, therefore, aimed to analyze the maternal impact on the diagnostic communication of fetal malformation, from the way in which the mothers evaluated their professional conduct, what were the sources of support perceived by them in this process, and the coping processes developed after this moment of communication, based on the Motivational Theory of Coping. Twelve mothers of children diagnosed with fetal malformation collaborated with the research. The identification of mothers took place via professionals from the public health network of Campina Grande who provide assistance to these children and their families. For data collection, an individual interview was carried out, based on a semi-structured script and a sociodemographic and clinical questionnaire. Data were analyzed based on the thematic content analysis proposal. The results indicated that most mothers evaluated the professional attitude in the context of malformation as not welcoming, presenting the babies' parents as the main source of support in the face of this reality. And the coping practices most used by mothers, given the situation as a whole, were: self-confidence, search for information and helplessness. Through this study, it is expected that it will be possible to subsidize and promote disease prevention and health promotion practices for these mothers, also enabling greater visibility of this reality, as well as expanding studies on adult coping based on TMC.