Being a mother as a healthcare professional in the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this research was to determine the changes in relationships between healthcare professional mothers and their preschool-aged children during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In addition, the second objective of this study was to propose a new phenomenon that explains “being a mother as a healthcare professional” during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: The participants of the research were 16 healthcare professional mothers (8 doctors and 8 nurses) who had worked in intensive care units during the COVID-19 pandemic and had a preschool-aged child. The research was conducted in accordance with the phenomenological approach, one of the qualitative research designs. The research data were obtained through face-to-face interviews between the researchers and the participants using half-structured interview forms prepared by the researchers. Colaizzi’s 7-step method was used for evaluation of the data. Results: According to the research findings, the phenomenon of “being a mother as a healthcare professional” was gathered under four main themes: emotional reactions, new normal in life, difficulties that pandemic brought in life and coping strategies with these difficulties. Conclusion: The findings showed that the COVID-19 pandemic caused many changes in the lives of healthcare professional mothers and their children; these mothers and children built some emotional reactions, and they developed various strategies to overcome these emotional reactions.