Motherhood and Home Quarantine: Exploring the Experiences of Iranian Mothers in Caring for their Children in COVID-19 Outbreak

Background: Following the spread of new coronavirus (COVID-2019) in Iran, people began a new lifestyle in quarantine to survive the disease. Mother-child relationships impacted from this new way of life. This phenomenological study was conducted to explore the experiences of Iranian mothers in caring for their children in COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: This is a qualitative study conducted with an interpretive phenomenological approach. The participants were selected using purposive sampling from among mothers living in Tehran in 2020. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The participants   were mothers with 7 to 9 year-old children and with the experience of living in quarantine.  The collected data were theoretically saturated after 17 interviews. All the interviews were recorded and transcribed, and the resulting data were analyzed using van Manen’s phenomenological approach. Results: Four main themes were extracted from the collected data: The mother’s health and physical concerns, confusion in playing the motherhood role, concerns about educational quality and wasting learning opportunities, and Concerns about the impact of financial disputes on children. Conclusion: The experiences of the mothers as the main caregivers in home quarantine were very unique. Understanding the complexities of their experiences, beliefs, and attitudes about motherhood and caring for children in quarantine can provide useful insights for decision-makers, healthcare professionals, and mental health professionals.