Representações sociais da ordenha à beira leito em unidades de terapia intensiva neonatais para mães de recém-nascidos prematuros

Abstract

Introduction: breast milk significantly reduces complications associated with prematurity, therefore, it should be a priority in neonatal intensive care units, and in this context, bedside milk expression emerges. It is important to emphasize that for adequate support, it is imperative that health professionals understand the social representations that permeate this context. Thus, it is necessary to expand scientific knowledge on the subject. Objective: to understand the social representations of bedside milk expression in neonatal intensive care units for mothers of premature newborns. Methodology: qualitative research, based on the Theory of Social Representations, carried out with 19 mothers of premature newborns admitted to neonatal intensive care units of a reference maternity hospital in Fortaleza/CE. A sociodemographic and medical characteristics form and a semi-structured interview script were used for data collection. Based on an active search process in the service, the mothers were contacted and invited to participate in the research in person. Next, the sociodemographic form was applied and the audio recording began to continue with the reading of the guiding questions of the semi-structured interview. The data were tabulated and analyzed in the REDCap® and IRAMuTeQ® software. The research was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Maternidade Escola Assis Chateaubriand. Results: the result generated by the Descending Hierarchical Classification had a success rate of 77.13%. Six classes were generated, grouped into three categories: “Perceptions, beliefs and values ​​regarding the practice of BME” (classes 1 and 4); “Incentives, barriers and improvements for the performance of BME” (classes 5, 2 and 3); and “The influence of the health team on the performance of BME” (class 6). Final considerations: empirical knowledge arising from collaboration between individuals interferes with human behavior. Furthermore, maternal happiness was observed in participating in the process of clinical improvement and development of their child, in addition to the formation of an emotional bond. The main obstacles perceived were the lack of a physical space in the maternity ward for mothers; the lack of chairs for greater comfort; the performance of procedures at the time of bedside milk expression and the delay in the supply of expressed milk; feelings of shame and embarrassment; and overcrowding in the units.