How child health care nurses view a mother-infant relationship. A qualitative study

Too many children in Sweden grow up under difficult circumstances. Every child should have the opportunity to grow up to be a confident person. We know today that the new-born child is able to influence its surroundings. The main purpose of child health care in Sweden is to reduce mortality, morbidity and disability in children, and also to reduce any detrimental effects on the family. Child Health Care (CHC)-nurses provide community and security for parents and children in developing relationships. The aims of this study were to identify how CHC-nurses view a mother-infant relationship, and how they can improved this relationship. Ten CHC-nurses were interviewed about mother-infant relationships. Verbatim transcripts were analysed using constant comparative analysis. The emerging core category was interplay. Under this construct there were two categories; maternal ability and signals from the infant. Different substantive codes were given under these categories, viz. body language, vocal language, poor health, expectations and life situation. In describing how to improve the mother-infant relationship, promoting an understanding of interplay was the core category. Three categories/strategies were perceived; visualize, respect and demonstrate. The results were then compared with the literature. This study indicates that interplay is of greatest importance in a mother-infant relationship.