Qualidade de vida no puerpério

Abstract

Introduction: The human postpartum period is divided into three phases: the immediate postpartum, the early puerperium and the remote puerperium. It brings with it physical, physiological and psychological changes that may affect women´s quality of life (QoL). Objective: to evaluate the QoL of primiparous postpartum women who took a preparatory course for pregnant women during the three phases of the puerperium. Methods: This descriptive, exploratory, quantitative study was conducted with primiparous postpartum women living in São José do Rio Preto – SP. These women attended a free preparatory course for pregnant women offered by a private institution in São José do Rio Preto, had term pregnancy and their newborn had good vital signs at birth and at discharge. Data collection occurred through the use of a socio-economic questionnaire, a qualitative questionnaire and the Brazilian version of the SF-36 QoL questionnaire. Results: In the quantitative analysis, women presented lower scores of quality of life in the physical component, especially in the domains functional capacity, physical aspects and pain. The QoL was more compromised in the immediate postpartum period and showed improvements as the postpartum period advanced. In the mental component, it was found that the domains vitality and social function showed differences in QoL scores between the immediate postpartum and the remote puerperium, with higher QoL scores in the remote puerperium. Conclusion: This study reveals the importance of nursing care in the prenatal and postpartum period in order to guarantee a better quality of life for puerperal women.