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Articles

Becoming the mother of a child with disabilities: a systematic literature review

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Pages 554-568 | Received 31 Aug 2015, Accepted 26 Nov 2015, Published online: 16 Feb 2016
 

ABSTRACT

The transition to motherhood starts early in pregnancy and is completed when the mother feels competent in caring for the infant. Becoming the mother of a child with disabilities is demanding as their needs are complex. The aim of the review was to appraise completed qualitative and quantitative reports on the challenges of mothers of children with disabilities regarding their own transition to motherhood. A review of the literature was carried out through, first, a computerized search strategy to identify relevant studies from selected databases and, second, quality appraisal and thematic analysis of selected studies. The transition to motherhood of children with disabilities takes place in the inside world at home, the outside world external to home and the ‘going-between’ world of travelling between the two worlds. The mothers are challenged at home to integrate basic infant care with technical care of their children. In the outside world they often struggled to ensure that their children got the necessary professional care. Travelling between their homes and healthcare services posed many problems.

RÉSUMÉ

La transition vers la maternité commence au début de la grossesseet la transition s'estterminéquand la mèreestcompétente pour être capable de soigner pour l'enfant. De devenir la mère d'un enfant handicapéestexigeantparcequeleursbesoinssont complexes. L'objectif de l'étudeétaitd'évaluer à la fin les rapports qualitativesetquantitativessur les défis de mèresd'enfantshandicapés en ce qui concerneleurpropre transition vers la maternité. Une revue de la littérature a étéréalisée par le biais, d'abord, unestratégie de rechercheinformatisé pour identifier les étudespertinentes à partir de bases de donnéessélectionnées et, deuxièmement, l'évaluation de la qualité et de l'analysethématique des étudessélectionnées. La transition vers la maternité des enfantshandicapés a lieu dans le monde dans la maison, le monde dehors de la maison et dans le monde »qui se trouve entre cesdeuxmondes » c.a.d. le monde de voyage entre cesdeuxmondes. Les mèressontcontestées à la maison pour intégrer les soins de bases comme les nourrissons avec unsoin technique de leursenfants. Dans le monde dehors de la maison, ilsontsouventlutté de donner la securité à cequeleursenfantsontobtenu les soinsnécessaires qui doiventêtreprofessionnels. De voyager entre leur domicile et les services de soins de santé a posé beaucoup de problèmes.

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the assistance with language editing of the manuscript by Ms Barbara English. Contribution to the manuscript: Study conception: N. C. V. W., R. L.; Review of the literature: R. L.; Drafting of the manuscript: N. C. V. W.; Critical revision: N. C. V. W., R. L.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Neltjie van Wyk PhD is a professor in the Department of Nursing Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa. Her research interest is in the field of women's health. She is the mother of a young adult male with severe cognitive and psychomotor disabilities.

Ronell Leech PhD is a senior lecturer in the Department of Nursing Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa. She has a clinical interest in early childhood intervention and her research interest is in the field of mother and child health.

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