Parenting Experiences of Mothers who Are Blind in Iran: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study

Abstract

Introduction Mothers, who often serve as primary care-givers for their offspring, play a crucial role in the development of children. Understanding the parenting experiences of mothers who are blind can be valuable and beneficial for professional educators and health care workers who wish to provide holistic and appropriate services to both mothers who are blind and their children. This study aimed to explore the experience of mother-child integration by mothers who are blind living in Iran. Methods A hermeneutic phenomenology approach was adopted to conduct the study. Congruent with this approach, Van Manen's (1990) method consisted of six interplay activities that helped the researchers in the process of the study. Semistructured in-depth interviews were performed to produce qualitative data with nine mothers who are blind. The thematic analysis introduced by Van Manen was used to isolate and extract the meaning units, subthemes, and the main theme hidden in the lived stories of the participants. Results “Close nurturers” was the overarching theme extracted from the experience of mothers who are blind, which emerged from six themes: monitoring by alternative senses, monitoring by careful calls and staying vigilant, loving by heart and imagining in mind, discovering the child's intentions, parenting anxiety, and deficits in communication. Discussion Blindness changes the mothering behaviors of women who are blind to the extent that they often adopt a close-mothering approach in caring for their children. This approach helps them to cope with their limitations and thereby decrease their level of child-related anxiety. Health professionals should consider the concept of close nurturers to better understand the behaviors of mothers who are blind. Implications for practitioners Understanding the lived experiences of mothers with blindness can generate valuable knowledge that can be used to provide appropriate health care and other support services for these women and their children.