Becoming a mother of a child with cancer: building motherhood

Abstract

The present study, which was conducted using the Interpretive Interactionism method, had the objective of understanding the experience of becoming a mother of a child with cancer. Seven mothers, whose children were undergoing cancer treatment, took part in semi-structured interviews. The results showed that mothers' role are built in a process that implies the interaction between two themes: LIVING THE TIME OF THE ILLNESS, in which mothers concentrates in themselves, continuously permeated by the uncertainties inherent in the disease, and the need to remove the threats of the child's death; and LIVING A TIME OF STRUGGLE FOR THE CHILDREN'S LIFE, which represents the dimension of mothers' behavior in developing their new role. The articulated theme and the epiphanies allowed identifying the connection between parenthood and temporality, in which the time comes into the dimensions of the development of the mother's role.