Abstract

A mother whose baby is diagnosed prenatally with a life-threatening condition frequently has weeks or months to prepare for birth and death. Research and anecdotal evidence affirm a mother's mindful journey with her unborn child. Bowlby's theory of caregiving, reciprocal to attachment, provides a theoretical framework for this study. Caregiving includes the goals of protecting, nurturing, and socializing a child. The authors used directed content analysis for a secondary analysis of data from the category of caregiving, created in a prior study of 15 mothers recruited from perinatal hospice support organizations. Results identify multiple ways that mothers protect, nurture, and socialize, and add a new category: final acts of caregiving. Understanding caregiving as a goal-corrected system strengthens the evidence for giving mothers every opportunity to care for their babies in ways that are normal and natural to them.

Full Text
Paper version not known

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.