Family restructuring in the context of baby’s care with zika virus congenital syndrome

Abstract

This paper addresses family members’ experiences in the care of children with the Zika Virus Congenital Syndrome. It aims to analyze the impact of the birth of babies with malformations, the parents’ psychological restructuring – especially the mothers’ – and the implications in the baby’s care. A psychosocial, psychoanalytical approach was adopted in dialogue with Public Health studies. We analyzed the narratives of family members who attended 32 group meetings conducted in an outpatient clinic of a Research Institute in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2017. The analysis was based on psychosociology and thematic analysis. Anguish, uncertainties, and overload marked parental experience. The baby’s developmental difficulties led parents to a unique way of dealing with their children and building hope and resistance paths. Maternal leadership became the basis for struggles in the social, health, and education fields.