Föräldrastöd i grupp

: förstagångsmammors upplevelser

Abstract

Background: Parent education, organized by child health service, should be offered to all new parents. In 2011 Region Skåne introduced a manual with recommendations on how parent education can be organized in order to obtain a more uniform parent group activity. Aim: The aim of the study was to describe first-time mothers' experiences of parental support group. Method: Open individual interviews with eleven first-time mothers were conducted. The interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: The result showed that the mothers experienced a lack of commitment and an unclear leadership from the nurses. They felt that the most important was being able to meet other mothers. The results are summarized in two categories; child health -nurses´ participation and knowledge- and experience exchange. Conclusion: In order to meet mothers' expectations and provide the support they need child health care nurses need to be responsive and interested in mothers' needs. One way to achieve this would be to follow the recommendation described in the manual. There is limited research on first-time mothers' experiences of support in parental support groups and therefore a need for further research.