[Perception of social support given by health professionals according to the participants in a prenatal prevention program who live in extreme poverty].
One of the essential elements of the "Programme intégré de prévention en périnatalité--Naître-égaux-Grandir-en-san t" (Born Equal--Brought up Healthy) is to have a health professional offering general support to pregnant women living in poverty. This research is based on a secondary analysis of the transcriptions of interviews done in order to implement the program. The thematic content analysis was employed to analyze the women's perception of the support provided by the health professional, the relationship between client-professional, and the perceptions of these women about the impact that the social support had on their pregnancy experience. The categories of support that emerged from the analysis are: information support, emotional support, instrumental support, changing life style support, recreational support, and availability of support. The categories of impact perceived by the participants are: learning, changes in life style, to be in a good mood, and the use of community resources. A key element in the perception of support by the participants is the establishment of a relationship of trust between professional and client. This relationship of trust is important to the development of intimacy and to foster the perception of a more intense kind of support. Hence social support and the relationship of trust work in synergy and reinforce each other.