GRAVIDEZ NA ADOLESCÊNCIA: ESTUDO DA PARTICIPAÇÃO PATERNA NA VISÃO DE MÃES ADOLESCENTES

Abstract

This work is a qualitative research with a focus on what kind of perception adolescent mothers have concerning the baby‟s father participation during the whole period: conception, pregnancy, pre-natal care, childbirth and first months after the labor. Support for this work came from BRISA (Brazilian Data Bank of Ribeirão Preto and São Luís Notary‟s Office). Adolescents until 16 years of age were selected, according to their civil status, economic and educational condition and local of residence, most of them living in the outskirts of São Luís, the capital of the State of Maranhão, Northeast of Brazil. The whole work of research began with pre-scheduled interviews right after the authorization of the Ethics and Research Committee of the University Hospital (HU-UFMA). Out of twenty two adolescents only one refused to answer the questions. The interviews as a rule were made in their homes, having this author had the precaution of leaving them at ease to answer questions and free to talk with no restriction. This phase lasted from February to May of 2012. Contacts were made by telephone or by personal appointment in the Hospital Materno-Infantil (Mother and Child Hospital). Semi-structured interview was used, along with field observation. Next, the interview discourses were studied according to the method of thematic analysis. The main result was the complete or almost complete absence of the baby‟s father from the beginning of the pregnancy and sometimes after it, which can be explained by the nearly complete lack of a sound familiar and economic structure from both families. It‟s necessary and urgent that assistance family projects be implanted, including the baby father in the process.