OBJECTIVE: To get to know the adaptation process experienced by a woman, motivated by the birth of a child with cerebral palsy. METHODS: The investigation was performed with a descriptive, exploratory methodology, focusing on the qualitative approach. Six women, mothers of children with brain palsy, participated in the study. Data collection happened in an institution that delivers care to children with special needs, located in a town of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. RESULTS: data analysis revealed that the woman abdicates from her social, professional and even personal life to take better care of her child. Besides, these mothers were shown to need psychosocioeconomic support from their families and the people who surround them, in both the process of initial adaptation and overcoming and the whole period of care for the child. CONCLUSION: The woman assumes and experiences the responsibility of taking care of the child with special needs.
Disabled children; Cerebral palsy; Women; Mothers