This study was carried out in an institution that offers lodging and health assistance for pregnant women in at-risk social situations. Its purpose was to better understand how women live pregnancy while they live in this institution. In 2006, 10 women participated in semi-structured interviews. The women's depositions were analyzed by the social phenomenology theoretical framework. Through category analysis, the lived types were classified as: women who lived the pregnancy living in a social and health care institution; as the social group which, searching for solutions, sought shelter and changes in their life conditions; lived their daily lives at the institution, coexisting negatively and positively with the experience of the other; judged themselves to be at home, but also felt solitude, freedom deprivation, and perceived learning possibilities. After this experience, they intended to return to their daily lives in new projects. The results disclosed the importance of the institution in order to attenuate affliction and the uncertainties that can influence biological health indicators, as well as to provide conditions for social reintegration.
Pregnant woman; Social conditions; Social assistance; Qualitative research