Abstract
Our study is part of a broader research on maternity and early childhood care. It aims to investigate how women experience their postpartum period today. Qualitative research was conducted for such purpose, and ten middle-class women from Rio de Janeiro were interviewed. The women were professionally active, aged between 29 and 37 years, married (formally or otherwise), primiparous, heterosexual, and had a child aged between eight months and two years old. The results were analyzed according to the content analysis method and its categorical aspect. To achieve the goals of this study, we discussed the following analysis categories: baby blues; support network; and The story was not quite like that... The results showed that women idealize the postpartum period, actually experiencing distress and emotional instability. We emphasize the importance of the support network for both mothers and their children.
Keywords:
maternity; postpartum period; baby blues; support network