The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between a mother's life background and support from their parents in borderline child abuse cases in which public health nurses were continuously involved. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 29 public health nurses who had supported mothers, and found out that women who experienced abuse during childhood were less likely to have support from their parents than those who did not. These results suggested that it
is necessary for public health nurses to support mothers who personally experienced child abuse from an early stage of pregnancy.