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便捷性，其已被用作构建产褥期女性支持网络的替代方案。但此类资源的实际使用周期相对较短，本研究旨在系统梳理产褥期女性虚拟互动群组的整体样貌。 研究方法：本研究为质性探索性研究，分析对象为2020年1月至6月期间，巴西里约格兰德州（Rio Grande do Norte, RN）库赖斯诺维斯市（Currais Novos）使用基础医疗服务的9名孕妇（主要处于产褥期）所在虚拟群组的互动内容。经预先规范整理的语料通过IRAMUTEQ软件开展层级下降分类分析（Analysis of Descending Hierarchical Classification, ACHD），随后依照巴丁（Bardin）的研究范式进行内容分析。 研究结果：层级下降分类分析最终归纳出三大核心主题，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困境、对支持与照护的需求，以及该阶段固有的局限性。 研究结论：研究发现，虚拟支持小组可通过经验交流，强化产褥期女性应对困境所需的支持网络。