Puerperium Online: interactions of a virtual support group

Abstract Objectives: due to the accessibility, online support groups have been used as an alternative in the constitution of a support network for women in the puerperium period. Thus, this resource is given relatively a short time of use, the present work sought to present an overview of the virtual group of puerperal women’s interactions. Methods: qualitative and exploratory study that analyzed a virtual group composed of 9 pregnant women’s interactions, predominantly during the puerperium period, users of basic health services in the city of Currais Novos/RN, during the period of January to June 2020. The corpus, duly previously prepared, was submitted to Análise da Classificação Hierárquica Descendente (ACHD) (Analysis of Descending Hierarchical Classification) via IRAMUTEQ software, followed by content analysis, according to Bardin. Results: the ACHD resulted in convergence around three themes, with class 1 - “Puerperium Itinerary”, which represented 56.1% of the elementary context units (ECUs) of the total corpus, being the object of interest in the present study. The main dimensions extracted from this class dealt with difficulties inherent to daily life and demands for support and care during the puerperium period, as well as the limitations inherent to this moment. Conclusions: it was noticed that virtual groups can strengthen the support network necessities to face the difficulties of the puerperium by exchanging experiences.

摘要 研究目的：鉴于在线支持小组的可及性，其已被用作构建产褥期（puerperium）女性支持网络的替代方案。然而此类资源的实际使用时长相对较短，本研究旨在全面呈现产褥期女性虚拟互动小组的互动概况。

方法：本研究为定性探索性研究，分析了2020年1月至6月期间，巴西北里约格朗德州库赖斯诺沃斯市基础卫生服务使用者、9名主要处于产褥期的孕妇组成的虚拟互动小组的互动内容。经预先规范处理的语料，通过IRAMUTEQ软件开展下行层级分类分析（Analysis of Descending Hierarchical Classification, ACHD），随后依据巴尔丹（Bardin）的理论框架实施内容分析。

结果：下行层级分类分析共形成3个聚合主题，其中类别1——“产褥期历程”占总语料基本语境单元（elementary context units, ECUs）的56.1%，为本研究的核心关注对象。从该类别中提取的主要维度涵盖产褥期日常生活的固有困境、对支持与照护的需求，以及此阶段的固有局限。

结论：研究表明，虚拟支持小组可通过经验交流，强化女性应对产褥期困境所需的支持网络。