Abstract
Background
Pregnancy is associated with life and health, but it can accompany some illness process, such as diabetes melittus, in the previous (type 1 or 2) or gestational condition. Understanding the experience of these pregnant women can provide instruments for the construction of a proposal for specialized and humanized prenatal care.
Objective
to interpret the senses and meanings of pregnancy with diabetes, from the perspective of women in the pregnancy-puerperal cycle.
Method
A qualitative study aimed to bring forward the process of living with diabetes mellitus (DM) during pregnancy, from the perspective of pregnant women. Participants were 17 postpartum women, diagnosed with DM and who underwent prenatal care and had their children in public maternity in Rio de Janeiro. The techniques of systematic observation, semi-structured interviews, and data collection of institutional records were adopted. The interpretation of the data was carried out using an approximation with the reference of the Depth Hermeneutics, with an adaptation of its phases, using Thematic Content Analysis, adapted from Bardin.
Results
Two categories were identified, extracted from the interview corpus: (1) diabetes hostage, linking DM to irreversible situations that impair quality of life, and (2) disease of surveillance, associating DM with the therapeutic measures necessary for its management, as food restriction and deprivation.
Conclusion
It was concluded that the process of gestation with DM is permeated by senses, which deserve to be understood since they exert influence on self-care and the outcome of gestation.
Keywords:
pregnancy; diabetes mellitus; qualitative research