Meanings in postpartum on hospitalization in the Intensive Care Unit. Significados em puérperas da internaçao na Unidade de terapia intensiva.

Abstract

Objective: To describe the cultural significance attributed by postpartum women with Extreme Maternal Morbidity to their hospitalization in the Intensive Care Unit. Materials and Methods: Qualitative study with ethnographic approach, using Madeleine Leininger as theoretical reference. In-depth interviews and qualitative analysis were carried out using James Spradley’s method. Twenty-one in-depth interviews were conducted with nine postpartum women with Extreme Maternal Morbidity who were hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit of a clinic in the city of Sincelejo-Sucre - Colombia between March and December 2017. Results: The meanings attributed by postpartumwomen with Extreme Maternal Morbidity to their hospitalization in the Intensive Care Unit included 8 domains: knowledge of alarm signs, fear of death, very difficult for my partner, postponement of breastfeeding, return to the clinic, my family cares for me, the nurse cares for me and learning from this experience. Conclusions: The meanings of postpartum with Extreme Maternal Morbidity are full of experiences, cultural beliefs and feelings, where compassionate and congruent nursing care helps them to survive and hospitalization in the ICU becomes a teaching for life.