The present study investigated the experience of motherhood in mothers of children with and without disease. Sixteen mother-child dyads took part in the study, eight of which composed by children with physical chronic disease for at least one year, and eight with children having no chronic health problems. The children were of both sexes and 24 months old. All mothers were interviewed on child development and the experience of motherhood, and the mothers from the group with chronic disease were also interviewed on impressions and feelings concerning the child's chronic disease. Content analysis performed on the interviews showed that the experience of motherhood was affected by the presence of chronic disease in the child. This appeared especially in the suffering of these mothers, with ambivalent feelings concerning the child, guilt, anxiety, overprotection, separation anxiety and feelings of little help from other people. These findings point to the importance of a preventive work and even of intervention, which may contribute towards minimizing eventual consequences of the presence of chronic disease not only for the child him/herself but also for his/her family.
experience of motherhood; chronic disease; childhood
