er mulher e mãe cega - a (con)vivência social e cuidados maternos: dos enfrentamentos aos ensinamentos

Abstract

In human beings’ development process, care attributes are fundamental. Not all the mothers that are caregivers might be completely healthy or still, have perfect functioning of their sense organs. Some physical disabilities might interfere in the care provided to their children and it is very important for health services to evaluate how these mothers feel and what their main difficulties with their children are. Although blind people do not see, they use touch, hearing and smell more precisely, what contributes to their autonomy. Disabled people also have difficulties in having a social life, not only for facing prejudice, isolation with decreased social and family relations and the stereotype imposed by the community, but also due to a lack of public policies that facilitate their access to transportation, housing, health services, education, in short, to basic needs that every citizen has the right to. The general aim of this study was to understand the meaning of being a blind mother in the perspective of women with visual disability. The study was descriptive and exploratory with a qualitative approach. The social situation in which this study was conducted involved blind mothers’ homes and outside spaces of experiences with their children from 0 to 10 years of age, in the period from April to October 2013. It was used as a methodological reference the ethnography and the theoretical references from the Coping Theory and from the Symbolic Interactionism. The population of the study was composed of four blind mothers. It was used the techniques of deep interviews, ethnographic participant observation and field diary. For data analysis and interpretation it was used the Grounded Theory, which allows one to achieve an explanatory theory through the data collected. One identified for the phenomenon as the main category “being a woman and a blind mother: from coping to teaching”, which occurs in the context of recognizing the kind of bond with health services and professionals, the perception of family support and the conflicts of marital relationship. For this phenomenon to happen, there are conditions that cause it, such as maternity’s experience and the appearance of visual impairment. The repercussions of disability in everyday life interfere in the decision making that shows how mothers deal with this phenomenon. To do so, they use strategies such as coping in order to take care, using resources to guarantee their children’s survival. Such actions generate as consequences the birth of a new mother, and finally, the attempt to continue living. Among these factors, women live maternity as an accomplishment that regulates their adult lives, making them similar to other mothers. It is realized that blind mothers, in spite of their sensory limitations, are able to provide care related to health, feeding and prevention of domestic accidents to their children from 0 to 10 years old. The conduction of such care measures in an appropriate and safe way was performed through coping strategies. Those strategies included the use of other senses and of a support social network. It is still considered that there is a lot to be changed in health services in search of disabled people’s accessibility. It is highlighted the need to follow legal standards in order to facilitate access of blind mothers and their children to public services.