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The adolescent puerpera's experience of taking care of the newborn at home

This qualitative study aimed to understand how the adolescent puerperae experience caring for their child at home. The Maternity concept was used as the reference for the analysis and the method based on the Collective Subject Speech was used to analyse the data. Fifteen adolescent puerperae participated in the study. They were all in the rooming-in of the USP University Hospital with their child. The interviews were performed after the adolescent mothers were discharged from the hospital. The results showed an everyday building process concerning the role of being an adolescent mother, which leads to a feeling of security in view of the difficulties related to caring for the newborn. Family support was considered important to help the young mother during this new phase of her life. In the end of the puerperium, it was possible to realize that the adolescent puerperae was able to meet the newborn's needs concerning hygiene, feeding, and affection.

Mother-child relations; Infant, newborn; Infant care; Family relations; Home care


Universidade de São Paulo, Escola de Enfermagem Av. Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, 419 , 05403-000 São Paulo - SP/ Brasil, Tel./Fax: (55 11) 3061-7553, - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: reeusp@usp.br