LIVING REPERCUSSIONS AND TRANSFORMATIONS OF A PREGNANCY: PREGNANT'S PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

This is a descriptive and qualitative study based on the principles of Symbolic Interactionism and Grounded Theory. It approaches the pregnancy as a life period of physical and emotional adaptations. It aimed at identify the meaning of the pregnancy transformations, from the pregnant's point of view, and its influences in woman's identification as mother. Data were obtained in 2005, with semi-structured interviews, in the prenatal service of a Municipal Health Center in Rio de Janeiro-Brazil. The constant comparative analysis allowed the construction of two categories whose integration in their different dimensions made possible to identify the central category: living repercussions and transformations of a pregnancy. This represents an active process of searching for the maternal identity. The results showed that pregnancy's transformations influences directly in the feminine construction of the maternity and in the woman's identity as mother.