Humanization and Integrality in Family Care: the perception of mothers about pregnancy of their teenage daughters

DOI: 10.15343/0104-7809.2012363475481

Abstract

In view of the need of humanization in primary care to change it into integral care, the goal of this study was to understand the
perception of mothers about having a pregnant teenage daughter. A study conducted with 10 mothers of pregnant adolescents living
in areas covered three units of the Family Health Strategy in Diamantina-MG. This is a qualitative research in which data were
collected by means of individual open interviews. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and then the material was
subjected to discourse analysis. We observed varied feelings of mothers before having pregnant daughters: joy, disappointment,
conformity and fear, both related to the burden of their daughters caring for a child, and consequences such as the interruption of
studies. Results showed the need for health professionals to care for mothers of pregnant adolescents because their perceptions
about the pregnancy of their daughters are crucial to family adaptation and support, and also to induce an attitude of responsibility
and care on the part of teenagers. The findings also revealed recurrence of teenage pregnancy and the repetition by teenagers of
their mothers’ history, which indicates a strong component of the vicious cycle of teenagers’ pregnancy in poor communities, in part
due to the difficulties of guidance from family, school and health services. Humane care and help by family health teams, guided
by the humanization attitude, is highlighted as essential to improving the care of the binomy mother-pregnant teenager daughter.