A saúde mental materna no SUS: uma análise da construção de uma agenda de cuidados

Abstract

The social construction of motherhood as an essentially feminine function contributes to the feeling of guilt and burden in women-mothers, due to the idea that motherhood is free from difficulties or an essentially feminine skill. This study aimed to analyze the mental health of women-mothers in the documents of the Unified Health System (SUS) as an agenda of interest for the SUS, for women in order to understand how they are thought of and who the women are that covers the policies of health. The research adopted a qualitative approach, using the Documentary Ethnography methodology, which involves the analysis of official documents to understand how they articulate access and guarantee of rights for pregnant women and mothers. The results reveal that the social construction of motherhood, often seen as an exclusively feminine function, it contributes to feelings of guilt and overload in women-mothers. Analysis of the documents shows that maternal mental health policies are still fragmented and often do not meet the real needs of these women. The research focused on important documents on women's health and mental health, establishing a relational analysis between them to deepen the debate on these issues. The results show that, despite the creation of PAISM in 1983 and PNAISM in 2004, which sought to expand the perspective of women's health, there is still a gap in relation to maternal mental health in the SUS. There is a lack of space for discussions about the emotional and psychological challenges experienced by women during motherhood. The overload of tasks resulting from the accumulation of social roles by contemporary women generates physical and psychological suffering, being more common in women with children. More discussions and specific public policies are needed that recognize and embrace the emotional challenges experienced by women-mothers within the scope of the SUS.