2024 Volume 13 Issue 2 Pages 118-126
Purpose: This study aimed to identify public health nurses’ childcare support skills for women with mental illness (from pregnancy to childcare for three years).
Methods: Individual interviews were conducted with seven public health nurses with more than six years of experience supporting prenatal women and mothers with mental illness. The interviews were then analyzed qualitatively and descriptively.
Results: The following categories were generated as childcare support techniques: “postpartum preparation with anticipation of pregnancy complications,” “assessing and judging the mother’s medical condition and child-rearing ability to continue raising the child safely,” “establishing a multiagency environment that promotes the child’s healthy growth and development,” “assisting the mother to build a relationship of trust and supporting her by being aware of her needs,” “empowering the mother’s life skills to promote her recovery.”
Discussion: Public health nurses provided support by taking advantage of their strengths, such as observing how postpartum medical conditions deteriorate during pregnancy, managing medical conditions to continue safe childcare, and possessing a perspective that promotes the growth and development of the child.
