Summary: Introduction. Extreme Maternal Morbidity (MME) is a public health problem that affects both population health indicators, as well as at the social, family and individual level, since it implies a situation of multiple changes for those affected, where their perception of well-being and quality life changes, generating a gap between what is perceived and what is desired, mediated by the meaning that women give to their experience, parallel to the social support and configuration of institutional actions in the health sector. Objective. Understand the meanings that MME survivors construct around their experience and the influence of these in their recovery and reconstruction processes of their daily lives in a Colombian city. Methods. Qualitative approach with the approach of symbolic interactionism and analysis with elements of grounded theory to approach the understanding of the phenomenon, using in-depth interviews and support in a field diary. Results. The meanings that women give to the experience are grouped into 4 categories: meanings of the MME, meanings of survival, mechanisms of coping and reconstruction of daily life and an emerging category related to the perception of care services. Conclusions. The perception of quality of life depends not only on the experience of MME but also on family and partner support, in addition to the survival of the baby. In the latter case, there is a greater impact on the perception of quality of life of women. The distant and sometimes traumatic relationship with health personnel generates negative effects on women, accentuating feelings of stress, worry and loneliness. The role of health services in comprehensive and humanized care is fundamental.