Childhood colic management under the optics of mothers and of the family health team

Abstract

Objective: to unveil the interrelation of childhood colic management by mothers and Family Health Strategy professional. Methods: a qualitative, exploratory and descriptive research carried out with 4 Family Health Strategy teams and 31 mothers who experienced childhood colic. Data collection included, respectively, focus group and individual unstructured interview. Symbolic Interactionism was adopted as the theoretical framework, and Narrative Research as methodological. Results: two themes emerged: “Colic approach” and “Social support and care”. Professional childhood colic management is based on diagnosis and drug interventions. For mothers, the child’s suffering and impotence in the face of the disease stand out. Final considerations: childhood colic is socially widespread because it is a physiological and self-limiting event. Mothers felt helpless in the face of childhood colic. Professionals felt the need to expand their care, with a view to achieving maternal suffering and alleviating it.

The need of having a plan in excessive infant crying – A qualitative study of parents' experiences of healthcare support

“…The parental exhaustion and feelings of insecurity caused parents to fail to meet their own expectations of parenthood, which they (unconsciously) wished to discuss with a professional. Exhaustion and feelings of insecurity can also complicate the treatment of excessive crying, a finding that is in line with existing literature 5,9,12 . Abreu‐D'Agostini et al 9 found that, due to their inability to stop the crying, parents can feel distressed, insecure, and helpless.…”

“…Most parents expected a somatic cause for the excessive crying, but they adjusted their expectations when they noticed that the infant was able to be soothed by others and, later, by themselves. Parents described the soothing techniques they learned as effective, similar to Brazilian parents in a previous study 9 . Although the soothing techniques of the Happiest Baby Method itself were not evaluated, we found that the ability of parents to soothe their child, positively affected parental self‐efficacy in families that were dealing with excessive infant crying.…”

“…Four researchers with medical, psychological, and anthropological expertise, and personal experiences, prepared a topic list based on clinical practice and literature. 5,8,9,12 This list was further supplemented after a trial interview (the trial interview was not used in…”

“…Parents looking for medical care for their excessive crying infants often expect medical advice and solutions, such as pharmacological or nutritional interventions. But such interventions are only evidence‐based for excessive crying due to cow's milk protein allergy or gastroesophageal reflux disease 5,9,10 . Even if a trial treatment is started for excessive crying without somatic cause, parents will not find their needs fulfilled 9 .…”

“…They interviewed professionals and parents and concluded that health professionals focus on investigating somatic causes and solutions, with insufficient attention being paid to the parental perspectives, especially the maternal anguish of not seeing the pain of their child being resolved. They conclude that professionals should seek partnership with parents and promote parental education for safe infant crying management 9 . A recent study in the Netherlands investigated maternal satisfaction with professional healthcare for excessive infant crying with a questionnaire in an online recruited sample 11 .…”