Meaning Of Motherhood Research Articles

La comprensión de los significados de la maternidad: el caso de un programa de cuidado prenatal en un centro de salud en Popayán, Colombia

The objective of this study is to understand the meanings of motherhood for different social actors (pregnant women and health personnel) within the prenatal care program of a health center in the city of Popayán, Colombia, a program developed as a strategy for the prevention and treatment of obstetric and perinatal complications. In order to uncover these meanings, a qualitative research study was carried out using interviews with social actors and observation of collective educational activities. Discrepancies were observed among social actors about the meanings of motherhood, owing to the influence of biomedical knowledge and the differences in power relations, as well as to particular cultural referents. The lack of recognition of these discrepancies affects the program's capacity to respond to the needs and socio-cultural characteristics of the pregnant women it serves

La comprensión de los significados de la maternidad: el caso de un programa de cuidado prenatal en un centro de salud en Popayán, Colombia

The objective of this study is to understand the meanings of motherhood for different social actors (pregnant women and health personnel) within the prenatal care program of a health center in the city of Popayán, Colombia, a program developed as a strategy for the prevention and treatment of obstetric and perinatal complications. In order to uncover these meanings, a qualitative research study was carried out using interviews with social actors and observation of collective educational activities. Discrepancies were observed among social actors about the meanings of motherhood, owing to the influence of biomedical knowledge and the differences in power relations, as well as to particular cultural referents. The lack of recognition of these discrepancies affects the program's capacity to respond to the needs and socio-cultural characteristics of the pregnant women it serves

Reframing Motherhood Through the Culture-Centered Approach: Articulations of Agency Among Young Nepalese Women

Based upon the culture-centered approach that foregrounds the relevance of interrogating the taken-for-granted assumptions that circulate in the dominant models of health communication on family planning, this article argues that traditional approaches to reproductive health campaigns are concerned with safe motherhood (e.g., fertility, birth spacing, hospital delivery) rather than with the processes through which women construct, negotiate, and maintain meanings of motherhood and health within their cultural contexts. In doing so, this traditional framework leaves out the broader sociocultural, political, and economic contexts of social structures that constrain and enable the possibilities for health in the realm of motherhood. The culture-centered approach notes the erasure of these voices of women from dominant epistemic structures, and seeks to interrupt knowledge production by co-constructing meanings of reproductive health through dialogues with women at the margins. Therefore, in-depth interviews were conducted to centralize experiences of the cultural participants, allowing alternative health meanings to emerge within their local contexts. In particular, highlighting narratives of young Nepalese women living under poverty, we are able to understand how women actively (re)construct meanings of motherhood within their localized cultural spaces.

Feminist Perspectives on Motherhood and Reproduction

Feministische Perspektiven zu Mutterschaft und Reproduktion«. Motherhood and reproduction have been at the core of the feminist discourse about women's rights ever since its onset. For the first and second feminist movements, the right to abortion and the public recognition of motherhood have been main issues in the discourse on reproduction. Since the last two dec- ades of the 20th century, the potentials of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) have opened up new venues of feminist discourse. In this paper we sketch the main feminist lines of argumentation regarding motherhood and reproduction since the 1970s, and we identify specific shifts in their recurrent issues. We argue that an essential contribution of feminism to the understanding of motherhood as a structuring category has been its insis- tence on the distinction between biological and social motherhood. Feminist discourse shows how ART has further decomposed biological motherhood and has altered the meaning of motherhood and reproduction. Feminist analysis maintains that despite the rhetoric of choice surrounding ART, these technolo- gies have not increased women's reproductive freedom. The decomposition of biological motherhood, the medical, legal, and commercial development of re- production, and the change in the social perception of motherhood have rather established new forms of control over female reproduction.

Becoming mother and father in late adoption: a case study

ABSTRACTAdoption in Brazil has long been related to practices of not disclosing the child's history and origins, which become a family secret. As a consequence, most couples who apply for adoption prefer newborns. Late adoption is still an uncommon practice and requires a ‘family project’ which accepts a different family model, new meanings of motherhood and fatherhood, and different ways of building affectionate bonds. It is important to investigate how a man and a woman become parents under those circumstances. This study aimed to follow up the emergence of adoption, motherhood and fatherhood meanings, in the discursive practices involved in the construction of adoptive parenthood in the Brazilian setting. This paper presents important meanings regarding parenthood produced by a couple who adopted two sisters, aged 4 and 5 years. Analysis revealed that to better understand the late adoption process, the meanings that emerge in the discursive practices should be considered. Those meanings pervade and circumscribe the family relationships, influencing how the individuals constitute their roles in the family. It is through the analysis of this dialogical process of construction that it is possible to identify the challenges in late adoption and to unravel the process of constructing affectionate relationships.

Deconstructing the discourse of motherhood based on the religious-magic practice

To deconstruct discourses on motherhood means to answer the questions, how certain gender relationships in the given society are constructed based on the dominant discourse, in which way do they become natural relationships and become binding for the members of the community creating the ideal type of woman-wife-mother. If we accept that the dominant motherhood discourse was conceived as the social relation of power, we can also inquire as to its problematizing and transformation. In this paper, on the one hand, religious-magical practice are analyzed, supporting the discourse of ideal motherhood, and on the other, there is the analysis of the strategies of the magic rites, which form the alternative discourses of control in the comprehension of woman’s reproductive role in the traditional Serbian culture of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. Cultural concepts of motherhood are directed at the fact that woman is not left with much choice, namely, the alternative discourses of motherhood tell us that women ruled over illegitimate knowledge and magic, performed abortions and in that way enabled women to strike a balance between childbearing and their own wishes and interests. However, this kind of discourse is in contrast with the interests of the church and society, that is, their tendency to use women’s reproductive potential according to the needs of the society and not the needs of women themselves. By deconstructing taboos and magic rites which are involved in creating the discourse of the good and bad mother it is indirectly pointed at the gender construction and the power relations.

Constructing ‘active citizenship’: single mothers, welfare, and the logics of voluntarism

Across welfare states, rights-based conceptions of citizenship are losing ground to obligation-centred notions. Drawing on in-depth longitudinal interviews with lone mothers receiving income assistance in British Columbia during a period of significant welfare reform, we explore the mothers' practices and narratives of volunteer labour in relation to conceptions of ‘active citizenship’. Volunteer work and the narratives women construct about it emerge as key sites of struggle and tension over the meaning of motherhood, work, and social contribution.

Meanings of Motherhood: Maternal Experiences and Perceptions on Low Country South Carolina Plantations

This paper is a comparative study of the meanings of motherhood for black and white women in the antebellum South. Even the prescriptive literature concerning motherhood penned by women during the first half of the nineteenth century largely ignored the health-related aspects of motherhood. Records of the experience of white plantation mistresses and female plantation slaves in antebellum, low country South Carolina, however, reveal that concerns with health, both mortality and morbidity, dominated the maternal experience of these women. Furthermore, in this particular geographic location, motherhood itself was centred more in the extended family than in the nuclear family.

THE CULTURE OF MOTHERHOOD: AN AVENUE FOR WOMEN'S CIVIL PARTICIPATION IN SOUTH LEBANON

moments of crisis and conflict, the images of women organizing to provide resources for their families is all too common in the Arab World (and elsewhere). Palestinian women in refugee camps in Lebanon worked together in networks, committees, associations, and in political parties or wings at times (Sayigh and Peteet 1986; Peteet 1991, 1997; Sayigh 1996). Artexaga (1997) argues that women in Northern Ireland transformed the meaning of motherhood and extended it beyond the domestic to include mothering of the public as the political conflict literally moved into their homes. Some women of the South had benefited from years of political organizing. Housewives and mothers, on the other hand, have a network of neighbors, friends, and families with whom they organize weddings, job searches, funerals, and

Contesting Motherhood in the Age of AIDS: Maternal Ideology in the Debate over Mandatory HIV Testing

I N T H E M I D -I980 s, with licensing of first Human Immuno Deficiency Virus (HIV) antibody test, it became possible to identify individ uals with HIV infection. Around same time, it became clear that approximately one out of four HIV-positive pregnant women, majori ty of whom were poor women of color, would transmit virus to their newborns perinatally (in utero, during delivery, or through breastmilk). As numbers of HIV-infected women rose rapidly, so too did fears that an impending deadly crisis in United States would leave more than 3,000 babies infected with HIV every year. In response to these fears, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop called on medical professionals to craft a policy that would alleviate the tremendous burden of this devastating condition, especially among children;' but just how to alleviate this bur den, just how to respond to problem of mother-to-child HIV transmis sion, has been subject of contentious debate for almost two decades. At heart of this debate are mandatory HIV-testing policies that raise con cerns not only about role of state and rights of individuals in times of health crisis, but also about meaning of motherhood in age of Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Policymakers responded to Koop's call by proposing various measures

When I become a mother!: Discourses of motherhood among Thai women in Northern Thailand

Synopsis This paper discusses the discourses of motherhood among Thai women from Northern Thailand. It is based on in-depth interviews with 30 women who live in Chiang Mai province. Motherhood has several meanings among Thai women in this study. Common to all women is the perception that motherhood is not an easy task. Some women believe that motherhood means self-sacrifice and endless concern; for others, motherhood brings joy and pleasure to their lives. Women also mention that becoming a mother makes them appreciate the love and sacrifice that their mothers have had for them. This perception is linked with the Thai cultural concept of bun khun (gratitude). Some women believe the processes of being a mother deplete their health. Low satisfaction with motherhood and its consequent unhappiness found in several studies with women from Western societies does not exist in this study. This may be due to the societal expectation of motherhood in Thai culture and family support women received when they become mothers. Women are different in their meanings and experiences of motherhood. These differences must be recognised so that a clearer understanding of motherhood can be achieved. Only then can health services and care be made more meaningful to many women who have decided to become a mother.

As tecnologias de reprodução assistida e as representações sociais de filho biológico

Foram investigadas as representações sociais de filho biológico em casais que se submeteram às tecnologias reprodutivas. Nossos objetivos foram analisar a trajetória de vida do casal a partir do momento em que foi constatada a infertilidade e identificar as representações sociais de filho biológico. Cinco casais da Grande Vitória, ES foram entrevistados e nenhum deles havia obtido êxito com relação à gravidez após o tratamento. As entrevistas semi-estruturadas foram realizadas individualmente. O roteiro seguiu o mesmo padrão para ambos os cônjuges, incluindo itens sobre a constatação da infertilidade, o tratamento realizado, o significado da maternidade, paternidade, casamento e filho biológico. A análise dos resultados apontou para um fortalecimento do vínculo no casamento após o diagnóstico de infertilidade e evidenciou a importância que os casais atribuem ao filho biológico. Os elementos de representações sociais que apareceram fortemente foram: "sangue do meu sangue", descendência, semelhança física e pressão social.

Mommy queerest: contemporary rhetorics of lesbian maternal identity

Despite the sizable community of families in America, mothers and their children continue to face hostility and discrimination. This book explores the role that rhetoric plays in the formation of those negative attitudes and practices. Julie M. Thompson traces thirty years of public debate to examine how and to what extent the phrase lesbian mother has been viewed as an oxymoron. Mommy Queerest focuses on the historical and contemporary meanings of motherhood in three cultural domains: the mass media, the U.S. legal system, and recent scholarship in feminist psychology. Thompson argues that a rhetoric of ambivalence has pervaded the discourse on this subject. Looking closely at the period from 1970 to 2000, she examines articles published in mainstream newspapers such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, and the Los Angeles Times and in periodicals such as Time, Newsweek, and Parents. She also scrutinizes such alternate publications as Gay Community News, Lesbian Connection, and Lavender Woman. Whereas the mainstream press has tended to characterize mothers either as unreal or as an imminent threat to the family, the press has portrayed them alternately as the vanguard of radical feminism or as the ultimate betrayal of the nation. Turning to the legal system, Thompson draws on more than seventy cases (mostly adjudications of custody disputes between heterosexual fathers and mothers) to analyze how the courts have interpreted the best interest of the child standard and, by extension, the legitimacy of motherhood. Once again, a rhetoric of ambivalence is plainly evident in the courts' decisions. To explore the academic response to motherhood, Thompson looks at different theoretical models of motherhood and at psychological studies of lesbian-headed families. While she applauds the desire of some researchers to help mothers retain custodial and visitation rights, she points out that such intentions are often undermined by a reliance on anti-lesbian understandings of gender. Thompson concludes by reviewing the major findings of her research and their implications for rhetorical and critical legal theory. She also offers concrete suggestions for social change aimed at achieving of a new legitimacy for motherhood.

Egg and Embryo Donation and the Meaning of Motherhood

ABSTRACT As part of a larger study on donor-assisted conception, this paper reports research which explored the ways in which women who have donated or received eggs or embryos interpret such donations in the context of motherhood. Narrative analysis of women's accounts revealed that egg and embryo donations are not interpreted as incompatible with motherhood; that they may be explained as contributing to the significance of motherhood through the desire to assist some women to whom motherhood has been denied; and that the welfare of offspring of donated eggs and embryos is considered by donors. Differences were found between the meanings of egg donation and embryo donation, including likening eggs to cells and embryos to children, and in donors the expression of stronger maternal connection to the offspring of donated embryos. These accounts reveal individual variation, complexity, and change, reflecting (among other things) the dynamic process of narrative revision.

Gravidez na adolescência: um novo olhar

A gravidez na adolescência constitui tema de grande relevância na realidade social brasileira. O enfoque tradicional relaciona a gravidez como indesejada e decorrente da desinformação sexual das jovens. O presente trabalho questiona essa posição, postulando a importância do significado individual da gravidez, que corre paralelo ao desejo universal de ter ou não ter um filho, bem como a noção de uma “gravidez social” determinada por fatores culturais e psicológicos que particularizam o significado da maternidade em adolescentes de classes populares. Conclui-se pela necessidade de reformulação das políticas públicas para com essa população.

Gender, Jewish Identity, and Cultural Memory in the Poetry of Rhea Tregebov

Rhea Tregebov’s self consciousness as a woman facilitated her developing self consciousness as a Canadian Jew, a process recorded in her five books of poetry. In the course of this work, her reflections on the social meanings of motherhood are particularly important. When insights about the parent-child bond are transferred to reflections about the meanings of modern Jewish history, particularly the Holocaust, the poet’s understanding of her role is extended. The result is an ambitious collection of elegies in which she changes the structure of mourning specific to that genre.

Clandestine Abortion in Mexico: A Question of Mental as Well as Physical Health

This paper reports on research carried out in Mexico City in 1995–1996 on the meaning of motherhood, contraception, an unwanted pregnancy or child, and the experience of illegal, clandestine abortion, as described by 12 women of different ages, class, education and marital status who had one or more clandestine abortions. A priest, two doctors from the public health system, a group of gynaecologists and nurses and a health social worker were also interviewed. The data show that it is the illegal and clandestine nature of abortion that has a negative effect on women in Mexico. Although terminating a pregnancy can also be a difficult experience in itself, it became traumatic for most (though not all) of the women interviewed due to the dominant Catholic church doctrine that abortion is a sin, and because of the criminal law punishing those who have abortions, which forces women to have the procedure in high risk conditions, all of which adversely affected their mental and physical health. In spite of this, all the women considered abortion a personal decision that they had to make. Even those who believed that termination of pregnancy was the transgression of a divine commandment also believed that it was a rightful and necessary decision, given their circumstances.RésuméUne recherche menée à Mexique en 1995–1996 s'est penchée sur la signification de la maternité, la contraception et une grossesse ou un enfant non désiré, et l'avortement illégal, clandestin. Cette expérience a été décrite par 12 femmes d'âges, de classes, de niveaux d'instruction et de situations de famille différents ayant subi un ou plusieurs avortements clandestins. Un prêtre, deux médecins du système public, un groupe de prestataires de services et un travailleur social ont également été interrogés. Les données montrent que c'est la nature illégale et clandestine de l'avortement au Mexique qui crée un effet négatif sur les femmes. Bien qu'une interruption de grossesse puisse être une expérience difficile en soi, elle est devenue traumatique pour la plupart des femmes interrogées (mais pas toutes) en raison de la doctrine catholique dominante selon laquelle l'avortement est un péché, et du code pénal qui punit les avortements, ce qui force les femmes à avorter dans des conditions à haut risque, aux dépens de leur santé mentale et physique. Pourtant, toutes les femmes considéraient l'avortement comme une décision personnelle. Même celles qui pensaient que l'interruption de grossesse violait un commandement divin croyaient qu'il s'agissait d'une décision juste et nécessaire, compte tenu de leur situation.ResumenEn la Ciudad de México en 1995–1996 se llevó a cabo una investigación acerca del significado de la maternidad, la anticoncepción, un embarazo o un/a hijo/hija no deseado/a, y la experiencia del aborto ilegal y clandestino, descrito por 12 mujeres de distintas edades, clases sociales, nivel de educación y estado civil, quienes habı́an tenido uno o más abortos clandestinos. Se entrevistaron además a un sacerdote, dos médicos a de salud público, un grupo de ginecólogos y enfermeras, y una asistente social de la salud. Los datos indican que es la naturaleza ilegal y clandestina del aborto en México que causa un efecto negativo en las mujeres. Si bien el terminar un embarazo es puede ser una experiencia difı́cil en sı́, para la mayorı́a (aunque no todas) de las mujeres entrevistadas, les fue traumático debido a la doctrina de la iglesia católica que califica el aborto como un pecado, y por la ley que penaliza a quienes abortan. A consecuencia, las mujeres se ven forzadas a buscar abortos en condiciones de alto riesgo, lo cual les afecta negativamente tanto la salud fı́sica como mental. A pesar de ello, todas las mujeres consideraban que la decisión de abortar era una decisión personal que debı́an tomar. Aquellas que creı́an que terminar el embarazo significaba transgredir un mandato divino, también creı́an que habı́an tomado una decisión necesaria y correcta, considerando las circunstancias en que se encontraban.

Flexible Mothering: Articulating rights and negotiating ideologies in Nicaragua

Julie Cupples examines the way in which rapid historical change in Nicaragua has expanded the meanings of motherhood and, in the light of this expansion, the compatibility of women's rights with children's rights. Based on qualitative research conducted in Matagalpa, Nicaragua in 1999, she examines the links between motherhood, employment and political activism and explores how women who do not conform to dominant ideals of motherhood negotiate this in their daily lives.

Safe motherhood means: social equity for women....

This WHO poster entitled “Safe Motherhood Means: Social Equity for Women Maternity Care for All Essential Obstetrics for Those at Risk Family Planning for All Couples” lays out basic conditions for safe motherhood from safe delivery to safe healthy motherhood. It calls for obstetric and maternity care family planning and social equity implicitly drawing attention to disparate conditions that mothers encounter throughout the world. It has been noted that although significant advances have been made over the years wide discrepancies remain in maternity care infant mortality and family planning activities. Overall the poster depicts the contrasts of a fulfilled promise of motherhood and the lurking threats around it.

Responsible Mothers and Normal Children: Eugenics, Nationalism, and Welfare in Post‐revolutionary Mexico, 1920–1940

This article examines the emergence of the eugenics movement in Mexico during the 1920s and 1930s and explores the ways in which eugenicists and physicians participated in the creation of a new paternal order focused on motherhood, sexuality, and child welfare. I analyze this transformation as part of a broader process of medicalization and state expansion that recast understandings of reproduction, heredity, childhood, and the female body during the post‐revolutionary period. I argue that eugenics, and the related puericulture movement, played a critical role in the emergence of novel forms of governmentality, the nationalization of women, and the neutralization of anterior forms of patriarchy in modern Mexico. The article contributes to a growing body of scholarship on the meaning of motherhood, the standardization of elementary school education, and the formation of welfare states in Latin America.