Mothers and others. African-American women's preparation for motherhood.

Abstract

To describe motherhood, maternal role requirements, and family life as perceived by poor, urban, African-American women. Ethnographic qualitative research. Using ethnographic methodology, 15 new mothers between the ages of 14 and 44, along with their families and significant others, were observed and interviewed in their homes and communities, using semi-structured and open-ended questions. The initial interview occurred within 24 hours of birth of a normal healthy infant. The interviews were analyzed for emergence of themes. Descriptions of select actions, interactions, and activities exemplified themes. Motherhood was found to be a significant demarcation in the women's lives, and they described both positive and negative maternal experiences. The mothers followed organized, culturally grounded steps in their pursuit of the maternal role; these steps were learned in the family of origin. The four steps discovered were preparing, checking, becoming, and evaluating. Role failure involved undesirable consequences for the mother. The results of this study reveal that these women are mothers by design, not by default. These mothers expended a great deal of energy to maintain their families; they valued successful maternal role fulfillment. If health care providers could become better sensitized to mothers' cultural values and social stresses, it could be possible to better help identify mothering needs. Health care providers could use culturally sensitive information to help support positive healthy mothering techniques for young mothers from diverse cultural groups.