Table 2 Identified needs of mothers during the year following childbirth and their sub-categories
Identified needs & needs’ sub-categories | Description / Examples |
|---|---|
Need of information | |
Existing services | -Post-natal physiotherapy -Independent midwives -Osteopaths -Reimbursement system available -... |
Medical information | -“What should I do?” (In case of fever, jaundice, colic, constipation, for growth spikes, breastfeeding, first teeth ...): “when should I worry and consult?” -Need for regular medical visits: especially at the beginning of the return at home |
Practical advices | -Furnishing of the room -Breastfeeding -Teat or not? -Night management -Household management -Couple and sexuality management -Nursery: how it happens? |
Social idealization of the motherhood vs reality | -Be forewarned of the difficulty of adaptation -Variable adaptation time -Feeling outdated could be normal -Variable time of taming of her child |
Administrative information | -Declaration of birth -Family allowances -Rights -Reimbursement system for some services -Legislation (e.g. for to work) |
RELIABILITY of the information | -Reliable, coherent and real information -Recommended by professionals |
Need to share experience | |
Need to compare their own experience with other experiences and to be reassured | Different source of sharing: -Father -Family -Friends -Other Mothers (friends, social networking, discussion group, organised group session): some mothers prefer to talk with Experienced mothers and other mothers prefer to talk with woman in the same situation (baby of the same age) -Health professionals |
Fight against the loneliness feeling | -Feeling of isolation and abandonment of a lot of mothers (especially for the first baby) |
Activities / leisure | -Unpack / blow -See other people -Activities between young mothers to discuss the experience |
Need of psychological support | |
Psycho-relational | -Need to be surrounded (experiencing social isolation ± strong) -Need to be reassured -Need to hear that they are doing well, that they are good mothers (skills/self-esteem) -Father’s place -Need to be understood: empathy of the entourage and the professionals |
Pathological | ➢Mother’s psychological distress and/or Pathology revealed in children -Need of psychologists, psychiatrist or other professionals if necessary; medicines (e.g. antidepressants) ... |
Need of practical and material support | |
Services | -Domestic help: cleaning, ironing, cooking, shopping ... -Involvement of the father is required -Help to have time to take care of her baby (not the opposite: help to take care of the baby while the mother cleans!) |
Economical | -Financial aid -System of “service vouchers” reimbursed in the first weeks after childbirth |