Percepciones de las madres acerca de los cuidados brindados por el equipo de salud a sus hijos durante su internación en la Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos Neonatales en un hospital público materno-infantil

Abstract

Introduction: the admission of a newborn in a Neo- natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is usually a traumatic and unexpected experience for families, which breaks into their lives in the form of a vital crisis, with a strong emotional impact. The permanence of parents within NICUs and their inclusion in the care of their children

brings multiple benefits in terms of growth and devel- opment, the establishment of effective breastfeeding,

increased attachment, and post-discharge security and confidence; nevertheless, it is a measure whose implementation seems to be resisted by health teams.

The present study describes and analyzes the percep- tions of mothers regarding the care received by new- borns during their admission to the NICU.

Material and methods: In-depth interviews were con- ducted with mothers whose newborns were admitted

to the NICU and who met the inclusion criteria. The

stories were analyzed and the thematic axes and cate- gories were determined.

Results: the most relevant categories were: unpre- dictability of premature birth, delay in making the first

contact with the baby after birth, deficits in accompa- niment and containment during the first entry to the

NICU, poor communication, restricted parental entry every three hours, limited possibility of participation in care, non-explicit and contradictory regulations (professional-dependent), difficulties and delays to

have physical contact with the newborn and rare skin- to-skin contact.

Conclusions: mothers perceive strong limitations re- lated to entering the NICU and participating in the

care of their children. In some cases, these limitations

are naturalized by mothers who assume that such ex- clusion is necessary for the well-being of the baby. The

time within the Unit was perceived as insufficient and the possibility of entering and remaining as a favor

granted by the institution according to certain non-ex- plicit guidelines.