Interaction Experiences of Blind Mothers with their Children: A Hermeneutic phenomenological study

Mother as the primary caregiver plays a crucial role in development of the child. Severe visually impaired or blind mothers’ parenting experience can be valuable and beneficent in providing a holistic and appropriate care for both blind mothers and their children. This study aimed to explore the experiences of blind mothers to interact with their children A hermeneutic phenomenology approach was adopted to conduct the study. Congruent with this approach, van Manen’s method consists of 6 interplay activities helped the researchers to perform the process of the study. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were performed to produce qualitative data with nine blind mothers. The thematic analysis introduced by van Manen was used to isolate and emerge the meaning units, sub-themes and the main theme, hidden in the lived stories of the participants. ‘Close lovers’ was the overarching theme that extracted from the mother-child interaction experiences of blind mothers. It emerged from 6 themes including monitoring by alternative senses, monitoring by careful calls and staying vigilant, loving by heart and imagining in mind, discovering child’s intentions, parenting anxiety and deficits in communication. Blindness changes the mothering behaviors of blind women to an extent that they adopt a close mothering approach in caring of their children. This approach helps them to cope with their limitations and thereby decrease the level of child-related anxiety. Health professionals should consider the concept of ‘close lovers’ to better understand and to provide appropriate care for blind mothers and their children