Abstract
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), although it is an environment of special care to ensure the survival of newborns, tends to raise, in mothers and family members, ambiguous perceptions and feelings about events related to hospitalization and also change the emotional health of those involved. This study aimed to verify the association between social support, coping strategies and length of stay of mothers of babies in the NICU. Data were obtained from a sample of 50 mothers of babies, most of them within 10 days of hospitalization, who answered the Modes of Coping with Problems Scale and the Social Support Scale. It was observed that mothers perceived greater support from family members, especially in the material and affective dimensions. The coping strategies of greatest recurrence were those focused on the problem and the search for religious practice and / or fanciful thinking. The results demonstrate the importance of the support of different dimensions and the difficulties of coping with stressful situations with the passage of the days of hospitalization. The results highlight the need for attention and care to this population.
Keywords:
mothers; NICU; social support; coping