Abstract

Memories of care involving sick children and their mothers at the Fernandes Figueira Institute (Instituto Fernandes Figueira) are retrieved. The analysis using a generational perspective reveals the institute as a space of experiences and memories. Three sources of memories are analysed: (1) the research by Marismary Horsth De Seta with the generation that reached the institute in the 1940s; (2) the institute’s 1973 activity report; (3) three interviews with workers admitted in the 1980s. It is concluded that care for children, and therefore interest in their mothers, is aligned with the global epidemiological transition, increasing the complexity of the profile of care given at the institute.

Memory; Care; Narratives; Generation; Instituto Nacional de Saúde da Mulher, da Criança e do Adolescente Fernandes Figueira (IFF)