Abstract

MARTINS, Cristina Araújo; ABREU, Wilson Jorge Correia Pinto de  and  FIGUEIREDO, Maria do Céu Aguiar Barbieri de. Becoming a father and a mother: a socially constructed role. Rev. Enf. Ref. [online]. 2014, vol.serIV, n.2, pp.121-131. ISSN 0874-0283.  https://doi.org/10.12707/RIII1394.

Background: Raising a child is a challenge which demands great responsibility due to the complexity of necessary skills and knowledge, and implies not only deep changes in the couple’s social roles, but also a redefinition/reorganisation of life projects, with caregiving patterns that may influence the future parents-child interaction. Objective: To understand how the transition to parenthood is experienced during the child’s first six months. Methodology: Grounded Theory with the participation of five couples. Data collection based on semi-structured interviews. Results: The results describe the category embodying the father or mother figure, which is composed of the following subcategories: taking on male or female roles as caregivers, describing oneself as a father, describing oneself as a mother, perceiving one’s wife as a mother and perceiving one’s husband as a father. Conclusion: Parents are driven towards a polarisation of gender roles which defines and builds the meaning of being a good father/good mother, husband/wife and man/woman. Understanding these parental experiences is essential for nurses to be able to support parents during this transition.

Keywords : parents; paternal behavior; maternal behavior; nursing.

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