Um olhar para além da beleza da maternidade: Burnout materno – exaustão e sobrecarga de mães.

Abstract

To understand the experience of maternal exhaustion in mothers from a municipality in Paraíba. Method: This is an exploratory-descriptive study with a qualitative approach developed with 22 participants. Data collection took place between September and December 2020, in three distinct stages, and a sociodemographic questionnaire and a semi-structured script were used. For data processing, the Iramuteq software was used. Results: It was found that the women participating in the research were aged between 19 and 71 years, mostly with more than 5 years of education (45.45%), unemployed (45.45%), with a family income less than or equal to at a minimum wage (68.18%), belonging to two-parent families (54.55%) and with 2 children (40.91%). From the similarity analysis, it was possible to identify lexical elements that may correspond to the positive and negative aspects of motherhood. Through the Descending Hierarchical Classification, it was possible to observe signs and symptoms of maternal burnout, as well as the overload caused by the multiple roles in the exercise of motherhood. Final Considerations: It was possible to perceive, in the reality of the interviewed mothers, how difficult it is to perform the role of motherhood in contemporary times. It is a routine of intense activities that requires from the woman-mother a mental and emotional balance, as well as resources and demands, to avoid the emergence of maternal burnout. In this study, some sign or symptom that represented some of the dimensions of maternal burnout was identified in all age groups of mothers and children, this condition can negatively affect the quality of life of mothers and children.