“For some people it isn’t a choice, it’s just how it happens”: Accounts of ‘delayed’ motherhood among middle-class women in the UK

Over the past few decades the number of women having their first babies over the age of 35 in the United Kingdom (UK) has increased. Women’s timing of motherhood is invariably bound up with a discourse of ‘choice’ and in this paper we consider the role choice plays in the timing of motherhood among women who have been defined as ‘older’ mothers. This article is based on data from 11 semi-structured interviews that explored the transition to motherhood among ‘older’ middle-class mothers. The interviews were analysed using critical discursive psychology. The women drew upon two dominant repertoires when making sense of their timing of motherhood. Within the first repertoire, ‘older motherhood as circumstance’, older motherhood was presented as the outcome of life circumstances beyond their control, with a lack of the ‘right’ circumstances facilitating ‘delayed’ motherhood. Within the second repertoire, ‘older motherhood as readiness’, women constructed themselves as (now) prepared for motherhood. ‘Readiness’ was bound up with notions of self-fulfillment, yet also assessments of their ability to be ‘good’ mothers. We conclude that, far from a straightforward choice, the timing of motherhood is shaped by cultural definitions of the ‘right’ circumstances for parenthood, but also cultural definitions of ‘good’ motherhood, which may define when women are ‘ready’

Parenting agendas:an empirical study of intensive mothering and infant cognitive development

Intensive parenting debates reflect the critical importance of a child’s early years, and parents’ roles in determining later developmental outcomes. Mothers are usually assigned primary responsibility for facilitating their infants’ cognitive development through adequate and appropriate sensory stimulation. Drawing on Foucault’s technologies of the self we explore how new mothers shape their mothering practices in order to provide appropriately stimulating interactions. Using findings from 64 interviews (31 women were interviewed twice, 2 women were interviewed only once) we identify three main positions whereby mothers function in relation to their infants’ development; mother as committed facilitator, creative provider and careful/caring monitor. We consider the perceived normative nature of these positions and the impact they can have on middle-class women’s subjectivities as new mothers. Our study of parental agendas and infant cognitive development suggests that a continued focus on the mother’s role within early infant development reflects and upholds ideologies of child-centred, intensive mothering, which risks precluding ‘alternative’ maternal subjectivities and promotes conservative feminine identities

Promoting writing amongst peers: establishing a community of writing practice for early career academics

In the current research-focused climate, academics are facing increasing pressure to produce research outputs. This pressure can prove particularly daunting for early career (EC) academics, who are simultaneously attempting to master new teaching and administrative demands while establishing their own independent research trajectories. Previous reports suggest that academic writing retreats can be an effective way of increasing research outputs. Such retreats generally involve academics from a range of career stages and require expert facilitators. Through organising a series of structured writing events, this project aims to cultivate an enduring community of practice for academic writers. Reflecting on our EC retreat and subsequent writing days with academics from different career stages, we suggest that success hinged on three key factors: (1) A formal structure comprising bounded periods of intense writing, flanked by group reviewing and goal-setting; (2) Co-located writing with participants based in a shared space, away from their usual workstation and distractions; (3) Peer discussions involving participants at a similar career stage. Specifically we found that writing amongst ‘equals’ increased productivity and confidence amongst EC academics

Becoming respectable:low income mothers, consumption and the pursuit of value

Teenage mothers find themselves caught between two discourses: the irresponsibility of youth and the responsibility of motherhood. We unravel some of the complexities surrounding the performance of socially approved ‘good mothering’, from a social position of restricted resources. We demonstrate the relevance of Skeggs’ (1997) notion of respectability in order to forge a deeper understanding of how young, low-income new mothers seek to secure social value and legitimacy via the marketplace. We identify a number of consumption strategies centred around identification and dis-identification, yet we recognize that young mothers’ careful marshalling of resources, in relation to consumption, risk being misread and could leave young women open to further scrutiny and negative evaluation, ultimately limiting their opportunity to secure a legitimate maternal identity

A Critical Discursive Analysis of ‘Older’ Motherhood

Over the past few decades the number of ʻolder mothersʼ – women who begin their families at age 35 or over, has markedly increased. Concerns about rising numbers of ʻolder mothersʼ have been expressed by health professionals, who have warned of the risks of infertility and health risks to mother and baby that increase with advancing maternal age. Informed by a social constructionist epistemology, a central aim of this thesis is to contribute to understandings of ʻolder motherhoodʼ, through the identification of the ʻdiscursive terrainʼ that constitutes its meaning. A second aim is to consider the implications such discursive meanings may have for women who are positioned as ʻolder mothersʼ. In order to address these aims, 26 newspaper articles about ʻolder motherhoodʼ, and 11 in-depth interviews carried out with ʻolder mothersʼ were analysed using a critical discursive psychological approach. It is considered that the media predominantly position ʻolder mothersʼ as ʻselfishʼ - as those who ʻchooseʼ to ʻdelayʼ motherhood and therefore position them as responsible for putting themselves and their babies ʻat riskʼ. The ʻolderʼ mothers in this study did not identify with this representation and often worked to resist it through challenging the notion that their timing of motherhood was a choice, negotiating their degree of personal ʻriskʼ, and constructing themselves as ʻgoodʼ mothers. Moreover, it is argued that far from a ʻselfish choiceʼ, older motherhood is shaped by societal definitions of the ʻrightʼ or ʻidealʼ situation in which to become a mother, in addition to current ideologies of ʻgoodʼ motherhood that effectively define when a woman is ʻreadyʼ for motherhood. Finally, some recommendations for health professionals are made with respect to appropriate handling of the communication of the risks associated with later motherhood

“I’m glad I persevered but…”: Women’s reports of early breastfeeding experiences

Currently the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding until the child is at least six months of age. Although these WHO recommendations are in place, figures around infant feeding in the UK suggest that breastfeeding rates are low with over half of babies not being breastfed by six weeks of age. As has been noted elsewhere, moral constructions of being a good mother are bound together with breastfeeding behaviour. Research has considered the actual teaching of infant feeding and tensions between initiation and adherence rates in breastfeeding have been noted. There is a stream of research that reports women’s early experiences of breastfeeding with the findings suggesting that women’s early experiences of feeding do not match their expectations of it. The data for this study is drawn from a series of interviews with women over thirty five talking about their experiences of older motherhood. The mothers were not asked about feeding but we found that the majority of the interviewees brought up the issue of breastfeeding and the unexpected difficulties that they had faced with it. Using a thematic analysis, this paper offers a discussion of the issues that are reported with breastfeeding and women’s accounts of their early feeding experiences. We find the dominant discourse of ‘breast is best’ coming through in women’s accounts of breastfeeding but also noted the difficulties and tensions in acting on this message reported by the mothers. We conclude that more realistic accounts of breastfeeding, including discussions of any potential problems and solutions, would be of benefit to women in the antenatal period