Parental care for infants with feeding tube: psychosocial repercussions

Objectives: to understand the psychosocial repercussions experienced by caregiving parents, resulting from care for the child with dysphagic cleft lip and palate. Methods: qualitative study, developed in a tertiary hospital in September 2016. The sample defined by theoretical saturation consisted of seven mothers. Data collection was performed by unstructured interview, being audio-recorded and fully transcribed. Symbolic Interactionism was used as theoretical framework, and Thematic Content Analysis as methodological framework. Results: the following themes emerged: diagnosis impact and coping; coping with overload and stress; interaction between caregivers as an acceptance and coping strategy; impact on family and social life of caregivers; and curiosity coping, and family and community prejudice. Final considerations: despite the physical and emotional overload, the mother figure plays the main and determining role in care, reflecting the complexity of care.