IMMIGRANT WOMAN'S MATERNITY EXPERIENCES IN PORTUGAL: UNFULFILLED EXPECTATIONS REGARDING CARE BY HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

Motherhood is a unique phenomenon in the life of the woman / couple, family and community and the transition to the assumption of new roles, the role of mother and father, is not always smooth, creating new challenges for the woman/couple. Living the maternity process in migratory context is doubly challenging. Concurrently with the changes inherent to motherhood a woman/couple is faced with the associated impacts of family and support network uprooting, and the confrontation of the particularities of a new culture and country. Because of these singularities, these challenges are more pronounced in migrant women, and anxiety, fear, and lack of support can hamper the transition to the role of mother. In the interaction with healthcare professionals, each woman constructs expectations about them, which may lead to a negative, even traumatic experience, when unfulfilled. Thus, it is important to know the expectations of every woman, in order to be able to pursue them, and aiming for the promotion of inclusive policies in cultural diversity. This study aims to identify the unrealized expectations of immigrant women during maternity, related to the care of health professionals. The study is qualitative exploratory-descriptive, using semi-structured interviews and Bardin's content analysis, categorization of verbatim of semi-structured interviews with 60 immigrant women living in Portugal, supported by NVivo 10. The results showed that the unrealized expectations are associated mostly with communication and clarification of doubts, followed by, in a smaller representation, by the professional attitude, help and support, work experience, the presence of professionals and the presence of an interpreter.