A experiência da maternidade no contexto de mães com câncer

Abstract

This dissertation is composed by two empirical articles written on the research about the motherhood experience and the health-disease processes in women with cancer. The first research refers to the experience of being a mother of children in pre-school and school age while getting the cancer treatment. The second study presents the communication of these mothers with their children regarding their treatment and their illness. Ten mothers, who were getting cancer treatment or that had finished it in the last six months, in different stages of the disease, were interviewed. Both studies had a qualitative exploratory design. The instruments used were a sociodemographic, clinical and professional data sheet and a semistructured interview script about the experience of motherhood in the situation of cancer. The interviews were recorded in audio and transcribed in full. The data was submitted to content analysis and then analyzed in three steps: a) initial reading without judgments ("naive"); b) structural analysis and content categorization; c) critical interpretation and discussion. Two independent judges evaluated the interview content. On study I, the categories that emerged were: 1)Having fear of death/relapse and of leaving the child; 2)Change the values/meaning of life after illness; 3)Changing the routine of family/child life; 4)Having conflicting, ambivalent/defeating feelings; 5)Having difficulty to meet the needs of the children 6)Dealing with the changes in the behavior of the children; 7)Having operational or emotional support. The results showed that the treatment of cancer brought, besides fear of death, relapse and finitude of life, common to people with this disease, the fear of not being present in the future in the life of their children. It was observed that children can be a motivating factor for mothers to follow treatment with engagement. In study II the following categories emerged regarding communication with the child about cancer: 1)The cancer was revealed to the child; 2)The cancer was not revealed to the child (which was divided into subcategories: 2.1)She did not reveal it to the child and does not intend to; 2.2)She did not reveal it to the child, but plans to talk in the future; 2.3)She did not reveal it, but she believes that the child knows about the disease. The results showed that some mothers revealed to their children about the disease and shared with them sufferings and hopes, others organized themselves with photo records, for example, to inform about the situation in the future. There were those who might have difficulty on talking to their child about the illness by resistance in accepting it or fear of making the child suffer. The findings of the studies may be useful to increase the knowledge of motherhood in the situation of mothers with cancer and to understand communication strategies that favor mother-child bonding in women with cancer.