Mães de bebês prematuros: o encontro, a amamentação e a solidão dos cuidados

Abstract

Extension activities at universities aim to articulate academic knowledge with the demands present in society. Among these needs, breastfeeding stands out as the theme of the extension experience reported in this study, which aimed to describe the author's experience as a participant in an extension project in partnership with the Human Milk Bank of HC-UFU. The listening provided was grounded in psychoanalytic theory and technique, through the application of the psychoanalytic method within what is referred to as an extensive clinic, based on the Multiple Fields Theory. After the listening sessions, narrative reports were written, and in reading them, the following fields were identified: “the encounter and the surprise” and “the surprise and the solitude.” These were analyzed and articulated in the discussion using psychoanalytic theoretical references. The first field presented the expectations and anxieties reported by mothers that are regarding the hospitalization of their newborns, highlighting an idealization of motherhood and a surprise in the encounter with the premature baby. The second field showed mothers experiencing their babies’ hospitalization alone, emphasizing the attribution of responsibility to the mother as the sole caregiver, in which the surprise of encountering the premature baby was accompanied by solitude. It is concluded that this extension experience enabled a sensitive perspective on the experiences of mothers with hospitalized babies, as well as reflection on the relevance of extension activities, which provide experiences that articulate theory and practice and foster specific listening skills for clinical work.