ABSTRACT.
This study portrayed, through reports and clinical observations, the path taken by a mother to become support, harbor, or home, for her twin babies during admission to the Neonatal ICU and shortly after hospital discharge. Such investigation, based on Donald Winnicott's psychoanalytical approach, arose as a part of the first author’s master’s research. The research took place in two moments: I) Weekly follow-up of the mother and babies during the newborn’s admission to the Neonatal ICU of a general hospital in Porto Alegre, state of Rio Grande do Sul, for one month and nine days, and II) Follow-up after discharge through home visits. The second stage started one week after hospital discharge and occurred for one month and nineteen days, with a fortnightly frequency. For data collection, clinical diaries were used as a device to listen to the singularities observed in each service. The hospitalization represented experiences of (dis) continuity for the babies and the mother. The journey process to home was an important inflection about the bodily (and psychic) support of babies by the mother. Psychological care proved essential to support this mother throughout the journey and help her become a ‘home’ for her newborns.
Keywords:
Premature newborns; neonatology; psychoanalysis