"Mothers as Candy Wrappers": Critical Infrastructure Supporting the Transition into Motherhood

Copyright © ACM. The transition into motherhood is a complicated and often unsupported major life disruption. To alleviate mental health issues and to support identity re-negotiation, mothers are increasingly turning to online mothers\u27 groups, particularly private and secret Facebook groups; these can provide a complex system of social, emotional, and practical support for new mothers. In this paper we present findings from an exploratory interview study of how new mothers create, find, use, and participate in ICTs, specifically online mothers\u27 groups, to combat the lack of formal support systems by developing substitute networks. Utilizing a framework of critical infrastructures, we found that these online substitute networks were created by women, for women, in an effort to fill much needed social, political, and medical gaps that fail to see \u27woman and mother\u27 as a whole being, rather than simply as a \u27discarded candy wrapper\u27. Our study contributes to the growing literature on ICT use by mothers for supporting and negotiating new identities, by illustrating how these infrastructures can be re-designed and appropriated in use, for critical utilization

Serotonin and motherhood: From molecules to mood

Emerging research points to a valuable role of the monoamine neurotransmitter, serotonin, in the display of maternal behaviors and reproduction-associated plasticity in the maternal brain. Serotonin is also implicated in the pathophysiology of numerous affective disorders and likely plays an important role in the pathophysiology of maternal mental illness. Therefore, the main goals of this review are to detail: 1) how the serotonin system of the female brain changes across pregnancy and postpartum; 2) the role of the central serotonergic system in maternal caregiving and maternal aggression; and 3) how the serotonin system and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor medications (SSRIs) are involved in the treatment of maternal mental illness. Although there is much work to be done, studying the central serotonin system’s multifaceted role in the maternal brain is vital to our understanding of the processes governing matrescence and the maintenance of motherhood

Challenging the status quo: women's experiences of opting for a home birth in Andalucia, Spain

Objective To explore the perceptions, beliefs and attitudes of women who opted for a home birth in Andalusia (Spain). Background Home birth is currently an unusual choice among Spanish women. It is not an option covered by the Spanish National Health Service and women who opt for a home birth have to pay for an independent midwife. Design A qualitative study with a phenomenological approach was adopted. All participants who took part in this study had chosen to have a home birth and given written consent to take part in the study. Methods Data collection was conducted in 2015–16. Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with women who chose a home birth in the last 5 years. Findings The sample consisted of thirteen women. Seven themes were created through analysis: 1. Getting informed about home birth; 2. Home birth as a choice, despite feeling unsupported; 3. The best way to have a personalized and a physiological birth; 4. Seeking a healing and empowering experience 5. The need for emotional safety, establishing a relationship and trusting the midwife; 6. Preparing for birth and working on fears; 7. Inequality of access (because of financial implications). Conclusions Women opted to plan birth at home because they wanted a personalised birth and control over their decision-making in labour, which they felt would not have been afforded to them in hospital settings. Andalusian maternity care leaders should strive to ensure that all pregnant women receive respectful and high-quality personalised care, by appropriately trained staff, both in the hospital and in the community

Perception of be Cared in Childbirth at the Light of the WHO Model

Background: The World Health Organization recommends preserving the physiology of childbirth. For a normal birth, the guidelines define obstetric practices in four categories, ranging from useful and to be encouraged to harmful and to be eliminated. Objective: to describe new mothers’ perception of care during childbirth in the light of the World Health Organization model. Methods: Cross-sectional study. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Convenience sample of 180 mothers. The average age was 30.8 years-old (SD=5.31). Results: On their own initiative, before leaving for the maternity, women carried out at home, some care not recommended by World Health Organization, like pubic shaving (83.7%). Category A represents above all the lack of a birth plan (80.6%), mobility (71.3%), massage /54.2%) and light feeding (72.6%). Positively represented are skin-to-skin contact (77%) and breast-feeding (75.6%). Category B highlights intravenous fluids access (81.6%), lithotomy position for delivery (82.9%) and directed pushing (86.9%). Pubic shaving is recognized by about 22% of participants. The Kristeller maneuver or fundal pressure, is widely applied in Category D (59.9%), highlighting continuous cardiotocography (89.2%), repeated vaginal examination carried out by various professionals (78.5%) and episiotomy (69.2%). Conclusion: The World Health Organization model is weakly implemented. The medicalized culture of childbirth seems to predominate in phenomena of human nature

Matrescence and the Patriarchal African Culture: A Critical Analysis of Buchi Emecheta's The Joys Of Motherhood

This study examines the concept of matrescence, the developmental process of becoming a mother within the context of patriarchal African culture, as depicted in Buchi Emecheta's seminal novel The Joys of Motherhood (1979). This study, through literary analysis, examines how traditional African patriarchal systems impede and constrain the formation of women's maternal identities, examining how motherhood can both empower and oppress women at the same time. Using close reading methods and theories about how women change when they become mothers, this research looks at how cultural expectations about maternal sacrifice affect women's independence and psychological growth. The study focuses on Emecheta's main character, Nnu Ego, to understand how women form their identity as mothers in societies that both honour and limit motherhood. The research uses feminist and postcolonial approaches to examine the complex relationship between what culture expects from mothers and women's personal freedom. The findings show that motherhood is complicated, it can both restrict women and give them power, as traditional gender roles both limit and create opportunities for women to act independently. This research adds to academic discussions about gender, culture, and maternal identity in postcolonial African literature, providing clear insights into how feminist theory and cultural representation work together in contemporary literature. &nbsp

Matrescence performance repetitions: towards ‘letting go’

In this article we explore the work of artists engaging with matrescence to consider the (im)possibility of repetition in maternal art making and performance. We are keen to think through matrescence and artmaking processes together towards an eventual ‘letting go’ as both the mothers and the children move into a new life stage. We draw on the work of Young, Iris Marion [2005. On Female Body Experience: Throwing Like a Girl and Other Essays. USA: Oxford University Press] to introduce concepts around the home, Halberstam, J. [2011. The Queer Art of Failure. London: Duke University Press] to examine the notion of futurity, repetition and return, and apply a psychoanalytical framing, in particular, the work of Ferenczi, Sándor [1988. “Confusion of Tongues between Adults and the Child.” Contemporary Psychoanalysis 24 (2): 196–206. doi:10.1080/00107530.1988.10746234]. We consider two contemporary shows – GOO:GA (Ballou, Hannah. 2021. GOO:GA (film)) by Hannah Ballou and the 2021 video re-working of Tender (Long, Josie. 2019. Tender (performance)) by Josie Long. In order to aid our engagement with the matrescence in various media representations, we also re-think certain historical examples of maternal creativity and artmaking including both our own and those of renowned women artists Susan Hiller, Mary Kelly and Bobby Baker

An analysis of media reporting on the closure of freestanding midwifery units in England

PROBLEM: Despite clinical guidelines and policy promoting choice of place of birth, 14 Freestanding Midwifery Units were closed between 2008 and 2015, closures justified by low use and financial constraints. BACKGROUND: The Birthplace in England Programme found that freestanding midwifery units provided the most cost-effective birthplace for women at low risk of complications. Women planning birth in a freestanding unit were less likely to experience interventions than those planning obstetric unit birth, with no difference in outcomes for babies. METHODS: This paper uses an interpretative technique developed for policy analysis to explore the representation of these closures in 191 news articles, to explore the public climate in which they occurred. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION: The articles focussed on underuse by women and financial constraints on services. Despite the inclusion of service user voices, the power of framing was held by service managers and commissioners. The analysis exposed how neoliberalist and austerity policies has privileged representation of individual consumer choice and market-driven provision as drivers of changes in health services. This normative framing makes the reasons given for closure as hard to refute and cultural norms persist that birth is safest in an obstetric setting, despite evidence to the contrary. CONCLUSION: The rise of neoliberalism and austerity in contemporary Britain has influenced the reform of maternity services, in particular the closure of midwifery units. Justifications given for closure silence other narratives, predominantly from service users, that attempt to present women's choice in terms of rights and a social model of care

Survey of women's experiences of care in a new freestanding midwifery unit in an inner city area of London, England - 1: Methods and women׳s overall ratings of care

Objective: To describe and compare women’s choices and experiences of maternity care before and after the opening of the Barkantine Birth Centre, a new freestanding midwifery unit in an inner city area. Design: Telephone surveys undertaken in late pregnancy and about six weeks after birth in two separate time periods, Phase 1 before the birth centre opened and Phase 2 after it had opened. Setting: Tower Hamlets, a deprived inner city borough in east London, England, 2007-2010. Participants: 620 women who were resident in Tower Hamlets and who satisfied the Barts and the London NHS Trust’s eligibility criteria for using the birth centre. Of these, 259 women were recruited to Phase 1 and 361 to Phase 2. Measurements and findings: Women who satisfied the criteria for birth centre care and who booked antenatally for care at the birth centre were significantly more likely to rate their care as good or very good overall than corresponding women who also satisfied these criteria but booked initially at the hospital. Women who started labour care in spontaneous labour at the birth centre were significantly more likely to be cared for by a midwife they had already met, have one to one care in labour and have the same midwife with them throughout their labour. They were also significantly more likely to report that the staff were kind and understanding, that they were treated with respect and dignity and that their privacy was respected. Key conclusions and implications for practice: This survey in an inner city area showed that women who chose the freestanding midwifery unit care had positive experiences to report. Taken together with the findings of the Birthplace Programme, It adds further weight to the evidence in support of freestanding midwifery unit care for women without obstetric complications

Postpartum Support: Application of a Local Peer Support, Community Care Model

The postpartum period is one of the most influential developmental stages of a women’s life and represents a time of heightened risk for mental health decline. Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders have been implicated as a key influence of negative parenting experiences, poor newborn psychological outcomes, delayed newborn development, and inadequately adaptive family development behaviors. Integrating established resiliency components against mental illness, such as social support, into a postpartum care model can benefit postpartum women and secondarily positively impact the aforementioned outcomes. A community care model highlighting social support for postpartum mothers was integrated into a rural Minnesota region and was found to positively impact maternal experiences according to the 14 participants. Identified outcomes included improved perception of role identity, increased awareness of maternal self-care value, and enhanced peer relationships around a shared developmental experience. Future implications for nurse practitioner care include a recommendation to integrate group community care into postpartum wellness with facilitation by an experienced perinatal health provider knowledgeable in community resources. It is imperative that nurse practitioners caring for postpartum women validate dependent care agency, encourage and aid in facilitating support mobilization, and collaborate with women throughout the postpartum time