Parenting experiences of mothers with children diagnosed with congenital syphilis: scoping review

Abstract

Objective Identify and synthesize the experience of being a mother of a child with congenital syphilis expressed in the literature and discuss research gaps.Methods Scope review with search in PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Cinahl, Virtual Health Library, Web of Science and Academic Google databases, of publications until 23 and 26 the July 2021. Articles were included according to the criteria: qualitative methodologies, mothers of children with congenital syphilis as participants and studies published in Portuguese, English or Spanish. The process of identification and inclusion of studies for analysis used the PRISMA extension for scope review.Results 256 articles were identified and ten articles were selected for analysis, all from Brazil. The analysis generated four categories: meanings of parenting, stigmatization of the problem, feelings and scenarios of experiences and knowledge about congenital syphilis.Conclusion The maternal experience of the child’s congenital syphilis comprises the feelings and meanings of the diagnosis while exposing the fear of stigmatization, the lack of knowledge about the disease and limitations of prenatal care. New studies should further develop the understanding of the parenting process in the context of congenital syphilis with an impaction care.