THE EXPERIENCE OF MOTHERING IN MOTHERS OF PRETERM BABIES HOSPITALIZED IN A NEONATAL UNIT

Abstract

A baby is considered preterm when it is born before 37 completed weeks of gestation, and it is necessary to admit it to a Neonatal Unit (NU) after birth. In addition to breaking with the fantasy of the imaginary baby, prematurity involves an anticipation of the process of recognizing oneself as a mother. This context of crisis provides a space of difficult elaboration around the experience of having a baby who was born prematurely and who is admitted to a hospital, bringing repercussions for the mother-infant relationship and for his psychic constitution. This work aims to investigate the experience of mothers of preterm babies admitted to the UN, based on Psychoanalysis. This is an integrative review study based on publications found in the Scielo, PePsic, LILACS and Redalyc databases in the last 10 years. The descriptors Prematurity, Psychoanalysis, Maternity and Neonatal ICU were used. 14 articles were selected for review of 67 identified general publications. It was found that the experience of mothers of preterm babies admitted to the NU is permeated by feelings of guilt, fear, frustration and ambivalence. The premature baby birth it is considered a risk factor for bonding, but it does not prevent mothers from finding strategies to exercise their role and bond. It is important to support the multidisciplinary team in the mothers' coping process and the psychologist's work in providing a listening space, allowing parents to talk about the experience and elaborate a place of subject for this baby.