["Children cannot wait": why mothers seek urgency and emergency care services for their children in non-urgent...

The scope of this article is to seek to understand the reasons why mothers seek urgency and emergency attention for children in non-urgent situations in a public hospital of the Unified Health System in Belo Horizonte in the state of Minas Gerais. It is a study involving a qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews as the data collection tool. Twenty-seven mothers of children with complaints classified as minor and non-urgent were interviewed. Fever and respiratory problems were found to be the main complaints. Even when the situation is non-urgent, mothers take their children to the emergency service because of the swift resolution, quality and specific pediatric medical care advantages, ease of access, previous experiences and recommendations from others, among other reasons. The statements revealed the mismatch between these mothers' feelings and the rationale of the organization of the service. This work raises questions that can provide input for reflection on the organization of the services centered on the users, who are in the final analysis the subject and scope of the care-giving process.