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At a time when educational attainment in young adulthood forecasts long-term trajectories of economic mobility, better health, and stable partnership, there is more pressure on mothers to provide labor and support to advance their children's interests in the K–12 system. As a result, poor health among mothers when children are growing up may interfere with how far they progress educationally. Applying life course theory to the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health to investigate this possibility, we found that young adults were less likely to graduate from college when raised by mothers in poor health, especially when those mothers had a college degree themselves. Young people's school-related behaviors mediated this longitudinal association. These findings extend the literature on the connection between education and health into an intergenerational process, speaking to a pressing public health issue—rising morbidity among adults in midlife—and the reproduction of inequality within families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global tourism competition has entered home and family space. Drawing upon ethnographic research in Guatemala, this paper investigates the postcolonial gendered politics that shape (and are shaped by) global tourism competition, homestays, and mothering labour. It shows how Guatemalan women turn to hosting as an economic strategy and, in doing so, become part of a complex power relationship between Spanish schools and their (primarily Western) language tourists (or 'students'). Spanish schools only work with 'host-mums' deemed capable of meeting their students' needs, desires, and expectations of homestays as affordable, enjoyable, pedagogical experiences of 'real' family. To achieve this, Guatemalan women become cosmopolitan, competitive subjects who devise and enact strategies to commodify, transform, and perform their mothering labour and homes/families in ways that appeal to their Western students. Far beyond creating desirable touristic experiences, the everyday competitive mothering of tourists is having widespread consequences at the personal, local, and global levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe aim of the research is to reveal the experiences and challenges experienced by mothers of disabled children during the Covid-19 Pandemic in the context of the ideology of motherhood and to ensure that lessons are drawn for possible crisis that may occur in the future. The research was carried out using a cross-sectional qualitative research design with descriptive phenomenological approach. Determined by maximum variation sampling, the participants of the research are women living in the same house with their disabled children. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 17 women. The data were analyzed through inductive thematic analysis. The themes emerged from the study in line with their experiences of physical, psychological and survival, accessibility to education and regression, protection and safety, social assistance and social support challenges and the new roles they have assumed to cope with these challenges. Mothers with disabled children face coping difficulties and need empowerment, independence, and responsibility sharing. Support services and protective-preventive interventions are recommended. Further research should include longitudinal interviews with participants during and after crisis situations and fathers to understand the connection between gender roles and this issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of accounting for gender in relation to homelessness is exemplified by experiences of pregnancy and early motherhood. Drawing on qualitative research conducted with 14 women who were pregnant while homeless in Victoria, Australia, this article applies the conceptual framework of ‘affective injustice’ to three case studies to explore these gendered experiences. Affective injustice refers to the deprivation of nurturing capital, including safe, secure relationships, love and support and occurs when individuals are exposed to neglect or inequality, including unequal access to health and social services. Moreover, individuals may feel undeserving of support and that being homeless is their burden to resolve. This study found that a lack of safe housing, economic deprivation and experiences of violence and neglect characterized the women’s experiences before and during their pregnancies. Consequently, their capacity to build nurturing capital was severely jeopardized. The provision of suitable accommodation and engagement with supportive relationships with professional and state services enabled the women to harness caring relations and foster maternal identity formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pakistan has extremely poor breastfeeding indicators: fewer than half of infants under 6 months are exclusively breastfed, only 20% of infants are breastfed within the first hour of life, and nearly half are never fed colostrum. The country's high infant morbidity and mortality is in part due to this suboptimal infant feeding. A network of lady health workers (LHWs) employed by the government facilitate maternal and child health programs, including breastfeeding support in their communities. This study describes LHWs' perspectives and experiences regarding breastfeeding. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 14 LHWs and used thematic qualitative analysis to code and analyze the data. Our research revealed that LHWs use their role as members of the community and involve influential members of the family to build trust. Frequent home visits beginning prenatally help them address misconceptions about infant feeding. While they have strong knowledge about the benefits of breastfeeding and the importance of colostrum, they demonstrate gaps in their knowledge regarding breast conditions, the safe preparation of human milk substitutes, the physiology of milk production, and supporting mothers who are separated from their baby. Future training should address these areas where LHWs lack knowledge to help mothers facilitate early and exclusive breastfeeding. With adequate training, LHWs are uniquely positioned to use their role as trusted members of the community to effectively counsel families on the importance of breastfeeding and support the clinical needs of women during the perinatal time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A robust and important body of scholarship is exploring the multiple and layered complexities of mothering and paid work. In this paper, we theoretically and empirically contribute to this work by exploring how, at the level of the self, women with children understand themselves in relation to their paid work and their mothering. We have examined this focus using a post‐structural feminist lens inspired by Foucauldian ideas related to the subject and technologies of the self. This perspective has focused our attention on the informal practices in an Australian university workplace, where we locate and problematize tensions between industrial and policy provisions designed to support mothers and mother's everyday workplace experiences. Our findings arise from focus groups, in‐depth interviews, and our personal narrative accounts and elucidate how despite well‐established policy supports, formal and informal workplace practices shape and discipline how mothers come to understand themselves and their paid work in the academy. We find that policy provisions for families in the workplace operate to conceal and legitimate gendered workplace practices, contributing to subjectivities formed through doubt, fear, shame, anxiety, isolation, and guilt. More productively, subjectivities were also born through agency, resistance, and revision, albeit wrapped by additional labor, personal, and professional costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Purpose This study aimed to understand the impact of social media on postpartum mothers’ parenting confidence among participants in the Moms on Media Study, an experimental mixed methods study. Methods We used an embedded mixed methods approach among a sample of postpartum mothers of infants aged 0–6 months who were randomly assigned to view either body focused social media posts (experimental group, n = 65) or infant feeding tips (control group, n = 67) over a 5 day period. ANCOVA was used to examine differences between the experimental and control group on parenting confidence at post-intervention and 1 month follow-up. A subsample of mothers in the experimental group (n = 20) took part in semi-structured interviews post-intervention. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes and subthemes generated from the data. Results Counter to expectations, ANCOVA results show that at post-intervention mothers who viewed the body-focused posts scored significantly higher for total parenting confidence (mean difference = 1.36), parenting confidence (mean difference = 0.89), and support confidence (mean difference = 0.53). These differences in total parenting confidence (mean difference = 2.03), parenting confidence (mean difference = 1.40) and support confidence (mean difference = 0.50) were sustained at 1-month follow up. No significant differences were found for child development confidence between the experimental and control group at either post-intervention or 1-month follow-up. Qualitative analysis revealed that many mothers described feeling better about their parenting after viewing body-focused social media posts where they felt mothers were overly focused on their own image versus spending time with their child as a “good” mother “should.” Conclusions Body-focused social media posts may lead to downward social comparison among postpartum mothers. Findings may help inform interventions or clinical care focused on healthy social media exposure and use during the postpartum period.

While Canadian policy makers are considering expanding school food programs in Canada, parents remain primarily responsible for packing lunches. Although women perform disproportionate amounts of foodwork, including feeding their children on school days, little research has investigated mothers’ experiences of packing school lunches in Canada. Drawing on 14 interviews with mothers of elementary-aged children in British Columbia, this study explored how mothers experience and make meaning of packing school lunches. Mothers described lunch packing largely as an individualized responsibility for children’s nutritional health and general wellbeing. Mothers strived to enact largely unattainable ideals about packing a “good” school lunch and engaged in diverse forms of physical, mental, and emotional labour to do so. When mothers were perceived to fall short of elusive lunch packing ideals, mothers judged themselves and other mothers, and also reported feeling scrutinized by other parents, teachers, and their children. While assuming the bulk of labour related to school lunch work, mothers also forged connections with their children through lunch packing, which they viewed as emotionally meaningful and a symbol of their care, love, and parental responsibility. These findings show that mothers’ experiences with lunch packing are complex and wrapped up in notions of “good” mothering and feeding ideals. For mothers, a “balanced” lunch requires not only a nutritionally adequate meal, but also involves balancing various forms of labour and contradictory emotions about food work. Understanding mothers’ experiences of lunch packing is pivotal for successfully developing school food programs that meet the complex expectations of Canadian families.

Purpose: This study aimed to understand the impact of social media on postpartum mothers' parenting confidence among participants in the Moms on Media Study, an experimental mixed methods study. Methods: We used an embedded mixed methods approach among a sample of postpartum mothers of infants aged 0–6 months who were randomly assigned to view either body focused social media posts (experimental group, n = 65) or infant feeding tips (control group, n = 67) over a 5 day period. ANCOVA was used to examine differences between the experimental and control group on parenting confidence at post-intervention and 1 month follow-up. A subsample of mothers in the experimental group (n = 20) took part in semi-structured interviews post-intervention. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes and subthemes generated from the data. Results: Counter to expectations, ANCOVA results show that at post-intervention mothers who viewed the body-focused posts scored significantly higher for total parenting confidence (mean difference = 1.36), parenting confidence (mean difference = 0.89), and support confidence (mean difference = 0.53). These differences in total parenting confidence (mean difference = 2.03), parenting confidence (mean difference = 1.40) and support confidence (mean difference = 0.50) were sustained at 1-month follow up. No significant differences were found for child development confidence between the experimental and control group at either post-intervention or 1-month follow-up. Qualitative analysis revealed that many mothers described feeling better about their parenting after viewing body-focused social media posts where they felt mothers were overly focused on their own image versus spending time with their child as a "good" mother "should." Conclusions: Body-focused social media posts may lead to downward social comparison among postpartum mothers. Findings may help inform interventions or clinical care focused on healthy social media exposure and use during the postpartum period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a critical autoethnography informed by Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Dis/ability Critical Race Studies (DisCrit) that explores the notion of DisCrit mothering in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. I use my experiences as a disabled Latina motherscholar and mindfulness practitioner to reflect on how I mother my two young children and foster radical love in educational spaces. I present the pandemic context and how it relates to compassion fatigue and a litany for survival but also offer the pandemic as an opportunity for personal and collective transformation. I use the narrative of sacrificio, a teacher's note from school, and a "giftedness" program to discuss how I try to resist internal and external pressures to conform to ableist mindsets and practices by cultivating radical love, solidarity, and critical questioning in myself and in my children. I end this work with hope and love for the next generation of DisCrit, social justice warriors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Influenced by revolutionary mothering, activists of color, and radical feminists, this article explores Neurodivergent families through the lens of Disability Critical Race Theory. As a parent of an Autistic child, I embark on redefining my role by integrating art and design into community advocacy for Autistic communities. I challenge unjust stigmas by breaking visual cycles within social and clinical practices. This journey culminated in the creation of "KnoxRoxs," a photo zine dedicated to my Autistic son, aimed at increasing visibility for children of color in Neurodiverse communities. I emphasize the multifaceted nature of Neurodivergent mothering, involving caregiving, community engagement, and creative resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a white woman raised in a rural community in a heteropatriarchal, evangelical Christian family whose tradition is hard work and family values, the author lived within the boundaries of those archetypal, stereotypical roles until tragedy struck, shaking the foundation of her self-concept as mother, wife, woman. This crisis invited a deterritorialization of self-concepts that imprisoned her, exposing her gendered existence, which she chronicled in journals over the period of this reimagining of self. Reflection on this personal writing reveals its role in developing not only the identity of a writer but the identity of a woman in the shattering and reimagining of facets of her "self" when a spouse's moral undoing threatens her sense of being. In this autoethnographic study, the author's Deleuzian approach to reflecting on identity through journal dipping into her own writing in a time of trauma and self-examination explores the possibilities for applying hermeneutics to personal texts to free the potential for rhizomatic expansion of feminine becoming born when the cultural expectations of feminine being in the United States South are fractured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study proposes a preliminary definition of third culture parenting drawn from the experiences of relatively privileged expat mothers who raise their children outside of their passport country. Background: A vast literature examining third culture kids (TCKs) in the context of expatriate postings exists, as does research on parenting styles among middle‐class, U.S. families; however, there is little scholarship exploring where these intersect: an emerging style of third culture parenting. Method: This gap was explored through an inductive, qualitative analysis of data collected from 11 in‐depth interviews with middle‐class mothers who were all married and globally mobile because of their husbands' work. In total, these families lived in 17 countries. Results: Respondents reflected on the challenges and opportunities of parenting while suspended in a liminal space between geographic locations and cultural contexts. Conclusion: This article examines several paradoxes that emerged in the analysis: juggling intensive parenting with children's increased independence, navigating family dynamics that are both insular and egalitarian, and creating a sense of belonging in mobility. Analysis of these paradoxes of mothering in liminality is significant if the transnational lives of expatriate families are harbingers of the kinds of identities and family relations that are becoming commonplace in a mobile world. Implications: The phenomenon of TCKs is well documented in the scholarship, but it must also be understood in relation to an emerging style of third culture parenting among expatriate families, which may inform therapeutic interventions aimed at these families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Violence against women is a predominant, human rights violation, globally. Understood as any act of gender-based violence resulting in physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, approximately 35% of women experience violence across the lifespan. While violence can be experienced at any age, women of reproductive age suffer the greatest prevalence, underscoring that for many women, experiencing violence or the health and social sequelae, which may follow violence, co-occurs with mothering. Mothering in the context of gender-based violence in Canada is complex and multifaceted. In this article, the interplay among gender-based violence and the childbearing stages of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum are explored using an intersectional lens, including consideration of social disparities and equity-deserving groups. Approaches to address gender-based violence among childbearing women, such as an ecological approach and trauma- and violence-informed care, are discussed as implications for further research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even as geographers increasingly examine their embodied experiences as field researchers, limited attention has been given to the reproductive labor of pregnancy and mothering in shaping field work. As early career geographers experiencing a range of reproductive positions before motherhood, during pregnancy, and becoming mothers, we build on the foundational work of feminist scholars to examine our evolving subjectivities and the reciprocal influence of mothering and field research. We argue, first, that the dual demands of field work and care work affect mothers' access and experiences in academia. Second, through our concept of situating reproduction, we unpack mothers' changing standpoints and show that the experience of mothering shapes the knowledge we produce. Finally, we advocate that academic institutions recognize and support mother-field workers, particularly at early career stages. We advocate for increased researcher reflexivity to better understand the shifting positionalities of mother-field researchers and how motherhood affects geographical scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the experiences of Mexican American mothers who, confronted with the troubled emotions and behaviors of their adolescent children, felt compelled to seek help from mental health clinicians. Their experience is situated in the context of both psychiatrization, or the tendency to treat social problems as mental illness, and the landscape of contemporary mothering in the U.S., where maternal determinism, mother-blame, and the demand for intensive parenting hold sway. In this context, the moral crisis of mental health care-seeking for their children forces mothers to reconcile multiple competing stakes as they navigate the overlapping, and sometimes conflicting, moral-cultural worlds constituted by family and community, as well as mental health care providers. At the same time, it allows them an opportunity to creatively "reenvision" their ways of being mothers and persons. Their stories and struggles shed new light on contemporary conversations about psychiatrization, everyday morality, and mothering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This mixed-methods study explored the centrality and meanings of men's and women's parental and work-related identities by comparing semi-traditional, equal-sharing, and role-reversed couples. Quantitative analysis involved 2,813 British parents (1,380 men, 1,433 women) who were primary caregivers, primary breadwinners, or equal sharers with at least one child aged 11 or under. Qualitative analysis drew on 60 in-depth interviews with 10 couples from each of the three groups. Results indicated that the centrality of parental and work identities varied by role rather than gender, as both male and female caregivers reported less central work identities and more central parental identities compared to breadwinners and equal-sharers. Equal-sharers and role-reversers were characterized by women's central work identity and men's low centrality of work identity. In these couples, a 'half and half' parenting ideology underlined the construction of mothering and fathering as equivalent interchangeable identities, each forming only one half of a child's parenting. Intertwining their maternal identity with an equivalent construction of their partners' identity allowed women to reconcile a good mother ideal with central work identities, by redefining mothering as a responsibility for only half of the caregiving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 80s is one of the periods in Iran's contemporary history that has been less studied despite its fame. Regarding the Islamic revolution and the imposed war, this decade includes efforts to establish and establish a new political system with ideological frameworks, which has established its appropriate gender order and has had an undeniable impact on the social changes of the upcoming era. Analysis of published posters and stamps On the occasion of the birth of Fatima Zahra and Women's National Day, is actually an exploration of power relations, And talks about the obvious and hidden meanings in the images, which are the essence of values, regulating actions, norms and rules. This research analyzes nine publicly published images including stamps and posters in the 80s using a qualitative method and a social semiotics approach based on the three categories of representational, interactive and combined meaning. The findings show that the images try to draw the revolutionary Muslim woman from among the types of women and spread it in the history and society. The preferred woman is a young mother, covered in hijab of entire body, which is drawn against the model of a traditional and stay-at-home woman, in broad or abstract backgrounds, and in order to show the agency of the activist during the socio-political developments of this decade. They introduce and promote the social role of a revolutionary Muslim womanmother in the public domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Introduction: Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a complex chronic pain condition that negatively impacts women's daily lives, particularly their roles as mothers and wives. A phenomenological qualitative study was conducted to explore the lived experiences of motherhood and daily life among women diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Methods: A sample of 10 women affected by FMS was recruited between January and February 2020. Participants were interviewed in a face‐to‐face, in‐depth interview using a semi‐structured interview guide. Data were collected until saturation, and Colaizzi's method was used to analyse data. Results: This qualitative analysis identified five themes: A trauma preceding diagnosis, Pervasive feelings of misunderstanding, A struggle to maintain strength among limitations, Challenges in fulfilling maternal roles, and Persistent sexual discomfort. The latter two themes emerged as the most prominent. Conclusion: These findings highlight the significant impact of fibromyalgia on women's family lives and suggest the need for a more comprehensive care programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses how walking‐with an infant makes mothering worlds legible. Employing the active verb 'worlding', it illustrates how walking‐with contributes to the emergent, embodied and relational nature of mothering as a story in motion and how we make sense of becoming a mother. The walking in this study takes place in and through (sub)urban landscapes, and how we negotiate our maternal bodies through these spaces, at a very particular moment in time (COVID‐19 lockdowns), is imbricated in our worldings. Walking‐with is used to not only explain the interembodiment of mother and child but also the wider milieu of 'withs' to demonstrate the corporeal and relational experience of walking. Walking‐with a baby, particularly with a postpartum body, is hard work, messy and unpredictable, yet that is not to say the analysis leads to a negative perspective. When walking‐with a baby is understood as 'worlding‐with' we can develop a more affirmative understanding of mothering. By using creative analytical practice a walking‐with story was developed drawing on data collected from walking mothers and autoethnography of my own walking‐with experiences. The story makes it possible to develop a legibility that captures the contradictory experiences of mothering in motion. Creative analytical practice highlights that storying, walking and mothering is never a complete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on interviews with low-income, Israeli mothers about their experience supporting children's remote-learning during COVID, this study offers theoretical insights about the accomplishment of natural-growth. The accomplishment of natural-growth is a theoretical concept coined by Lareau to describe the logics of low-income childrearing. Though concerted cultivation, which describes the logics of middle-class childrearing has garnered theoretical elaboration, little research has elaborated on practices for accomplishment of natural-growth. This study elaborates on these practices as they were revealed in mothers' narratives of adjustment to difficulties placed by remote-learning. The women described practices by which they sought to bind themselves and their children into a social network and to bridge out and utilize resources within and beyond this network. The analysis reveals that these practices work through social as opposed to cultural capital, revealing a childrearing logic based in a different type of capital than that of concerted cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents artwork from the project, 'The botanical afterlife of indenture: Mehndi as imaginative visual archive', which memorializes the legacy of Indian indenture by recording the flora brought by indentured workers as they exist in the midst of contemporary social life and in the region's landscape. In the project, mehndi works as a decolonializing and embodied, post-indenture feminist aesthetic praxis and a method for contributing to a new world visual archive. Indo-Caribbean imaginative visual archives can challenge gendered and racialized exclusions in colonial and creole visual representations, and can instead image indenture and post-indenture histories in ways that are accessible, inclusive, consensual and popular; connecting all in the Caribbean and its diaspora to the afterlife of indenture. The article reflects on the images produced, how they echo biographical and fictional writing, and how they critically engage with the orientalising lens of colonial-era photography. In presenting these original designs of a botanical imaginary, the project aims to transform mehndi in post-indenture sites so that art forms which are both traditional and contemporary can be seen as post-plantation techniques for making memory-work an act of beauty. Inspired by his scholarship and encouragement, the project is dedicated to beloved Professor Emeritus Brinsley Samaroo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the production, working and impact of the UK's hostile environment on migrant families with precarious legal status. Our approach is informed by two bodies of scholarly work: critical border studies and research on migrant families. We bridge these literatures to show how the hostile environment is neither a singular, neatly bounded space, nor limited to a set of interactions between immigration enforcement and a clear-cut group of people (so-called 'illegal immigrants'). It affects the lives of a wider segment of the UK population, in particular racialised migrants and citizens, by making their legal status more insecure and precarious, and percolates in multiple and intersecting domains in the lives of families, such as education, housing and welfare, making them ambivalent sites of protection and safety as well as control and enforcement. Drawing on ethnographic engagement with families with insecure immigration statuses, we explore how the hostile environment manifests in the everyday lives of families; how the hostile environment circulates and is re-enacted within the micro-politics of families; and how families negotiate the continuous work of protecting children from the effects of the hostile environment. In conclusion we argue that dramatic and rapid shifts in immigration rules and regulations undermine the capacity of mothers to navigate the policy environment and welfare for their children and to shield them from the consequences of state-driven hostility towards immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we analyze the foodwork of mothers when feeding their families on low and reduced incomes. By exploring their accounts of food shopping and household budgeting, we argue that foodwork is intrinsically linked to other areas of social life and dominant values associated with "good mothering." Through a careful consideration of the contexts and relations in which foodwork is valued, embedded, and made meaningful, we draw two key conclusions. First, we find that mothers' foodwork is oriented towards avoiding devaluation and maintaining a level of respectability as opposed to accumulating cultural capital. Second, we introduce the concept of foodcare arguing that it potentially offers low income mothers an alternative to the logic of capital for their demonstration of self‐worth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the COVID-19 epidemic, this research examined the connections between psychological well-being (PWB), self-compassion, psychological inflexibility (PI), and parenting stress (PS) in 242 urban Indian women with children aged 10 and under. Results from a regression analysis showed a correlation between the participants' reported levels of psychological well-being and their scores on measures of self-compassion (SC), psychological Flexibility, and perfectionism. This study's findings add to the body of knowledge on maternal mental health by demonstrating that SC, PI, and PS are associated with the PWB of urban Indian mothers even in the context of the COVID-19 crisis, thereby calling attention to the need for adapting gender-based policies and putting an emphasis on targeted interventions for this at-risk group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postpartum depression (PPD) symptoms can negatively influence mother-infant interactions. Video-Feedback Interaction Guidance for Improving Interactions Between Depressed Mothers and their Infants (VID-KIDS) is a parenting intervention that allows mothers experiencing PPD symptoms to observe and improve their interactions with their infants. VID-KIDS has also positively influenced infants' stress (cortisol) patterns. There is limited research on maternal perspectives of interventions like VID-KIDS. In this hermeneutic study, four mothers were interviewed to increase understanding of the VID-KIDS experience. Key findings included: 1) VID-KIDS provided an opportunity for mothers with PPD symptoms to positively transform their identity; 2) VID-KIDS provided a chance to witness the mother-infant relationship forming and improve maternal mental health t, and; 3) VID-KIDS provided a space for mothers to dialogue about their experience with PPD symptoms authentically. VID-KIDS promoted healing from PPD as mothers experienced a transformation in how they perceived themselves and their relationships with their infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Matricentric feminism or a feminism for mothers deals with the politics that mothers face in diverse patriarchal cultures. The present research explores the matricentric interests and the subject of demarcated role of mothers through the themes of identity, marriage, family and the idiosyncratic concerns about motherhood by examining the novel The Expatriates (2016) by Janice Y.K. Lee. The study continues the matricentric debate by analysing the two characters of the novel, Margaret Reade and Hilary Starr. The main aim of this research is to examine the oppressed, dependent, static and lost identity of mothers even in the developing world. This article argues that the mothers, despite belonging to the upper crust of society, are not immune to the tragedies and psychological oppression in the postracial Asian American world and that they are oppressed first as women and then as mothers. It refocuses on the restricted role, identity and position of mothers in the privileged yet patriarchal society. By using the method of textual analysis, the article analyzes the selected novel under the Matricentric ideas of Andrea O’Reilly and Petra Bueskens. The research thus concludes that a mother leads traumatic life due to loss of her child, and despite having other children, patriarchal society rusticates her status of motherhood. For future research, the article recommends to analyse the novel under psychoanalytic or trauma theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly hostile immigration policies in the UK produce insecure immigration statuses and exclusion from public services and mainstream welfare benefits. Little is known about how this precaritization affects racially minoritized mothers with insecure immigration statuses and 'no recourse to public funds'. The ethnographic study on which this article is based explored the impact of hostile policies on mothering, and found that precaritization increases the significance of mothers' informal support networks, including friendships. I show how hostile policies constrain mothers' friendship practices, shaping access to support. I argue that while mothers share diverse forms of support through their everyday friendship practices, they have to navigate dialectical tensions (contradictions) that play out in ways specific to their precarious legal and financial positioning. Applying theories of friendship and relational dialectics, I highlight the importance of safe, sociable spaces and sustained 'friendship work' to navigate tensions and nurture friendships as sites of support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following Bourdieu, residential location as habitat may provide spatial profit when it matches with a habitus – but how? How can we conceptualize situations of mismatch between habitat and habitus, and what may they mean for urban inequalities? This article explores this topic through the lens of mothering practices in elementary schools. Qualitative interviews in two neighbourhoods in Berlin, Germany, suggest how moral geographies at intersections of class and race/ethnicity structure parents' opportunities to organize resources for children in their specific spatial contexts. It argues that mothering practices can help us see not just that, but how habitus and habitat are related. Empirically, it suggests that the moral geographies in which these schools are embedded reinforce the exclusionary consequences of their institutional practices. I theorize that the moral geographies of neighbourhoods as sites of mothering practices vis‐à‐vis the class‐based state logics in institutions may contribute to an urban impasse of educational inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To explore the priorities of women mothering children in the context of intimate partner violence and to understand what shapes those priorities. Design: A qualitative study using interpretive description, informed by Feminist Intersectionality adhering to the COREQ guidelines. Methods: Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Data Sources: Dialogic, semi‐structured interviews were conducted with a community sample of 20 adult Canadian women who were mothering dependent children (under 18 years) in the context of recent intimate partner violence from a current or former partner. Results: Women's main priorities focused on their own and their children's well‐being and creating stability related to housing and finances. Three themes identified: it's all about the kids; my safety...totally disregarded; and I have to take care of him. Multiple external factors (coercive control, structural inequities, assumptions about mothering) shape priorities and the tensions arising from competing priorities women felt compelled to address simultaneously. Conclusion: Priorities of women mothering in the context of intimate partner violence are complex, shaped not only by what they want but by the limited options available to them given constraints such as income, employment, housing and service responses. Coercive control, structural inequities and assumptions about mothering are important factors influencing mothers' priorities and experiences. Better understanding mothers' priorities can support better tailored policies, services and nursing practice. Implications for Nursing: Structural inequities that negatively impact health and well‐being by limiting access to resources and the supports needed to enhance health can be better recognized and addressed through a trauma and violence informed care approach. Impact: This study addressed understanding the priorities of women mothering in the context of intimate partner violence. This research will impact women mothering in the context of intimate partner violence who receive care from nurses and other providers as well as those who provide care. Reporting Method: This study adhered to relevant EQUATOR guidelines (the COREQ checklist). No Patient or Public Contribution: The women who took part in the interviews for this study did not participate in the study design, analysis or manuscript preparation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2018 Windrush Scandal prompted widespread condemnation of the British government's treatment of older Caribbean migrants. Yet broader questions pertaining to the effects of the scandal on the wider Caribbean community remain underexplored. Given the salient position that Caribbean mothers occupy in the British nation, this article examines narrative interviews with five Caribbean mothers living in London, addressing how the scandal affected their sense of belonging and subsequent mothering strategies. The findings indicate that the scandal is part of a broader repertoire of racialized exclusion instigated by the state, and identifies three mothering strategies deployed as tools of resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on Elias's work on established-outsider figurations, stigmatisation and the civilising process, this study explores the narratives of women, who are mothers of children under the age of 18 years old, in one female prison in England, United Kingdom. We conducted 31 in-depth interviews as well as three focus groups with 26 different women, exploring their experiences of being an imprisoned mother as well as staying in contact with their children from prison. Moreover, we interviewed 15 members of staff. Our findings highlight the stigmatised 'outsider' nature that is ascribed to mothers in prison which is reinforced by the prison environment and figurations between mothers and prison staff. By highlighting the stigmatised and outsider positioning of mothers in prison, this research has significance for practice and policy. Improving support for imprisoned mothers and the development of non-stigmatising, more inclusive, compassionate institutions and compassionate responses are thus required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study extends our understanding of the body in practice theoretic consumption research by illuminating its roles in the pre-performative practices that mothers routinely perform when considering the possibility of exercise; namely body evaluation and projection practices. These practices construct the 'mothering body' as a failing body because it does not exercise, which is set against the 'exercising body' which connotes an effortless, thin and fit idealised body entrenched in the teleoaffective structures of exercise practice. We conceptualise that 'teleoaffective misalignment' ensues, which we define as misalignment between the beliefs and understandings in pre-performative practices and the teleoaffective structure of a practice. This process locks affective displeasure into mothers' relationships with exercise and leading mothers to exit the field. We contribute to practice-theoretic consumption research through our conceptualisation of 'teleoaffective misalignment' and by extending understanding and nomenclature of pre-performative practices and how these interconnect unsuccessful practice performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the foodwork performed by white middle‐class mothers in the United Kingdom who were preparing to feed their families in anticipation of post‐Brexit resource scarcity. We illustrate their laborious preparations ('prep‐work') as they stockpiled items (mostly food) in anticipation of shortages. We reveal tensions in how they envisaged how (and who) to feed. Analysis reveals how our (privileged, white middle‐class) participants enrolled 'good' motherhood into prep‐work and engaged in a new form of 'othering'. Non‐prepping '(m)others' were positioned as deficient, 'bad' parents due to failure to save children from post‐Brexit risk/hunger, and participants downplayed their own (classed and material) advantage in being able to prepare. By exploring their prep‐work accounts, we illustrate how they assumed a morally superior motherhood position to the non‐prepared underclass and make several contributions. First, we extend foodwork categories, recognizing additional foodwork of managing and hiding stockpiles (given stigma/ridicule surrounding prep‐work). Second, we illustrate the darker side of motherhood that prep‐work revealed, which clashes with elements of intensive motherhood ideology. Third, we illuminate the 'othering' of a new parental underclass: the unprepared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children receive many benefits from the consistent involvement of two adults in their lives. Although mothers and fathers encounter various barriers and/or challenges related to parenting or involvement in their children's lives, there may be differences according to sex and social circumstances. Unfortunately, limited knowledge of ethnic minority families has negatively impacted the implementation of social policies and intervention programs to support these families. The present study employed qualitative methodology from a social constructivist perspective to contextualize the barriers and challenges that Black Jamaican parents encounter in parenting their children in middle childhood. Using 49 semistructured interviews with Black Jamaican fathers (24) and mothers (25), thematic analysis led to seven themes: (a) lack of resources, (b) child-related concerns, (c) time constraints, (d) work-related concerns, (e) worrying about parenting self-efficacy, (f) partner-related challenges, and (g) contextual difficulties. These findings highlight similarities and differences across sex and social class in the barriers or challenges that Black Jamaican parents experienced in their sociocultural contexts. Social policy, welfare, and psychoeducational intervention programs should be implemented to support families. Highlights: Mothers and fathers faced similar and unique challenges and barriers to parenting based on perceived role expectations and sociocultural contexts. Although mothers and fathers experienced similar challenges and barriers, they emphasized different aspects of their experiences. Middle- and lower-class parents faced similar challenges, but their experiences were driven by different issues. Although mothers and fathers expressed concerns about parenting self-efficacy, mothers emphasized complexities in their thought processes and feelings, but fathers focused only on their thought processes. The macrosystem was based on economic and cultural challenges and has created unique difficulties for Black Jamaican parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adult child to parent violence is a growing international social problem that needs to be better understood to develop clinical interventions. An exploratory study on the antecedents of early life adversity on adult child to parent violence/elder mistreatment was carried out using secondary analysis. Directed content analysis was used based on life course theory with a data set of older mothers all > 57 years old (J. R. Smith 2021, 2022). Measurement of instances of child abuse, domestic violence, and birth trauma among abused older mothers was conducted. All the older women had reported being negatively affected by their adult children's problems and 56% reported being physically attacked. A case example is presented to illustrate how repeated incidents of abuse or neglect in early life might explain an older woman's inability to take actions for her own safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motherhood as experience or, simply, mothering was defined by Adrienne Rich in Of Woman Born as the relationship between women and their potential motherhood, between mothers, collectively, between mothers and their children, or between mothers and nature. In short, mothering or motherhood as experience is defined as relationship, opposed to motherhood as institution that limits women’s creation and freedom. Moreover, mothering could be defined as recognition of the mother work and as an experience that is defined by both positive and negative feelings that do not erase the mother’s identity and ego. The feminist experimental play chosen for analysis, Daughters(the first play from The Daughters Trilogy), written by Clare Coss, Roberta Sklar and Sondra Segal, mirrors the experience of motherhood/ daughterhood by focusing on the need for closeness and separation in the mother –daughter relationship as a universal characteristic that transcends race, gender, or background.

This research delved into the nuanced experiences of a first-time mother. Using the lens of autoethnography, she provided an elaborate narrative of how she navigated the complex social role of motherhood. The study highlighted how she negotiated the inherent contradictions within the motherhood experience as both liberating and restrictive. The exploration focused on uncovering the intricate web of social and cultural influences that shaped and influenced her mothering practices, particularly within the context of the good mother ideology and the prevailing culture of intensive mothering which imposes idealized standards of motherhood. A significant emphasis of the study was made on her dual role as a mother and a teacher, examining her roles as a mediator of nature and culture. The autoethnography further unveiled the intricacies of conflicts, contradictions, and complexities that emerged from her interactions with significant others and society in general. The implication of this research is multifaceted and extends beyond the individual narrative of the first-time mother, offering a nuanced analysis of the intricate connection between personal agency and external pressures in the realm of motherhood. The examination of these intricacies calls for a reevaluation of the expectations and standards surrounding motherhood. By highlighting the impacts of social and cultural factors on mothering practices, this study emphasizes the need to critically assess and redefine prevailing standards to be able to account for the diversity in maternal experiences. Overall, the study advocates for a more inclusive approach to understanding the varied experiences of motherhood.

Violence against women is a predominant, human rights violation, globally. Understood as any act of gender-based violence resulting in physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, approximately 35% of women experience violence across the lifespan. While violence can be experienced at any age, women of reproductive age suffer the greatest prevalence, underscoring that for many women, experiencing violence or the health and social sequelae, which may follow violence, co-occurs with mothering. Mothering in the context of gender-based violence in Canada is complex and multifaceted. In this article, the interplay among gender-based violence and the childbearing stages of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum are explored using an intersectional lens, including consideration of social disparities and equity-deserving groups. Approaches to address gender-based violence among childbearing women, such as an ecological approach and trauma- and violence-informed care, are discussed as implications for further research and practice.

Theme: Motherhood and Mothering. Ill. ©Stina Wirsén Mothers That Murder: The Myling, Baby Farmers, and Mothering In contemporary Swedish children’s literature, mylings and baby farmers make frequent appearances. A myling is the ghost of a murdered child, destined to haunt and expose its assassin. Baby farmers were women paid to take care of unwanted children but sometimes killed them, either directly or through neglect. Both motifs indirectly address issues of motherhood and mothering, and the aim of this article is to discuss how they are represented in children’s literature. In research about motherhood, being a mother is often distinguished from the act of mothering. Motherhood is associated with a biological discourse whilst mothering refers to social practices of care that are associated with the mother but may also be carried out by other people. Both mylings and baby farmers address this distinction but in various ways. In folklore about mylings, the biological mother is traditionally singled out as the infant’s killer. This misogynistic discourse is, to some extent, renegotiated in contemporary non-fictional works about Nordic mythology for children. In fictional works, though, the mother is still portrayed as the sole caregiver for the child and the only one to blame for its death, thus disregarding the distinction between motherhood and mothering. Baby farmers are neither mothers nor are they mothering. Children’s novels set in the past describe the baby farmer as part of a societal industry where a discrepancy between motherhood and mothering is displayed: children are born but not cared for. However, the burden of guilt is shared amongst various social actors, including the fathers. In Gothic fiction set in a contemporaneous society, the baby farmer reveals a deficit in mothering altogether and offers neglect – an anti-mothering – in its place.

Theme: Motherhood and Mothering. Ill. ©Stina Wirsén ”When We Ride Together, She’s More like a Friend than a Mum”: Mothering Variations in Three Horse Story Series by Pia Hagmar This article analyzes how the horse story setting problematizes the conception of the good mother and normative mothering, by elucidating how the gazes of the young main characters on their mothers function in relation to the notion of the good mother, how this influences the mothering and how the mothering characters challenge this notion. Mothering is seen here as caring practices, which can be performed by people other than mothers. The analysis of three horse story series by Pia Hagmar, the books on Klara (1999–2008), the books on Millan (2012–2014) and the books on Juli (2019–2021), shows that the series depict motherhood and mothering at the intersection between the conception of the good mother and the good horse person. The common denominator is nurturing traits that make personal needs take the back seat – for the traditional good mother to the benefit of her children, for the good horse person to the benefit of the horse. Hagmar normalizes the presence of several mothering characters in addition to their mothers around the horse girls. Furthermore, these characters, who function as mothering variations, contribute to the creation of a solid caring environment, reducing the demands on mothers who try to be everything to their children. Although the daughters’ views of their mothers are sometimes critical, Hagmar allows the mothers to be imperfect, partly incompetent, or simply women with their own agency,interests and needs outside of motherhood. In addition, a mother-daughter relationship built on a common interest in horses allows for a friendship with a common focus – the horse.

This article examines the representation of South Korean mothers in webtoons, specifically focusing on the emotional expressions that are allowed and those that are considered taboo. It compares South Korean "mom content" to similar trends in Japan and explores the use of humor as a means of conveying the maternal experience. The analysis is based on a selection of webtoons that address pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting, highlighting the role of webtoons in providing a space for community and catharsis for mothers in South Korea. The article also discusses the influence of mom blogs in other countries and the popularity of mom cafes in South Korea. It concludes by examining the ways in which webtoons challenge traditional narratives of motherhood and provide a platform for mothers to share their experiences. [Extracted from the article]

This article explores the concept of "education mothers" in Korean society, specifically their involvement in the private education market and their role in preparing their children for college entrance exams. It discusses how Korean TV dramas depict these mothers and how these portrayals reflect societal expectations. The article also examines the division between public and private spheres of motherhood and the influence of neoliberalism on the role of education mothers. It concludes by emphasizing the importance of recognizing and valuing occupations outside of traditional high-paying professions and promoting a more equitable distribution of educational responsibilities. [Extracted from the article]

Immigration and citizenship policies in the UK have long been experienced as hostile and restrictive, particularly by groups who are racially minoritized. Since 2012, "Hostile Environment" policies have further restricted access to residency rights and citizenship status, generating legal and financial precarity for many families. Whilst research on state bordering practices is growing, little is known about their impact on mothering. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in a London neighbourhood, I show that hostile policies marginalize mothers with insecure immigration statuses and constrain experiences of mothering. Mothers face challenges and relational tensions which play out in ways specific to their structural positioning. I argue that mothers undertake strategic mothering work to address these tensions, enacting relational belonging and citizenship as mothers, for themselves and their children. This article contributes to sociological understandings of strategic mothering as a form of relational belonging and active citizenship in the context of hostile policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I propose the hypothesis that in contemporary western normative motherhood, pregnancy and (early) motherhood are often perceived as a temporary fit of bewilderment, both physically, psychologically and socially. I introduce the metaphor of the emergency lane to express this state of exception. Mothers are granted temporary relief from certain expectations. However, the need to get back in shape and back to work – the need to leave the emergency lane – quickly, preferably unharmed, reveals the assumption that mothers in that early period are not fully regarded as people. Drawing on insights from maternal and critical disability scholars I argue that these norms are deeply ableist and affect all mothers. Moreover, I suggest that postponed motherhood might be linked to the fear of this emergency lane, and I use the decline theory, a concept from ageing studies, to make this argument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how middle-class migrant East Asian mothers approach their children's education in England, where educational culture is perceived to be considerably different from East Asia. Based on dichotomous perceptions about East Asian and English education cultures, dialectical perspectives were used to analyse the life history interview data, particularly four dialectical frameworks developed by [Baxter, L.A. (1990). Dialectical contradictions in relationship development. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 7, 69–88. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407590071004]: selection, separation, neutralization, and reframing. In order to release tensions arising from the two-perceived different educational systems these mothers used different dialectical strategies. The paper argues that East Asian mothers' behaviour towards their children's education cannot be categorized using a uniform cultural framework and a diasporic space provides multiple possibilities for exercising divergent approaches for them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital foodscapes not only transform our everyday relationships with food but offer creative and entrepreneurial opportunities. This paper works to expand the Anglo-American focus of digital foodscapes scholarship in analysis of Japanese Instagram food influencers and their relationship to gendered social reproduction. Japan's most prominent influencers are mothers documenting the bentos (boxed lunches) they prepare for their children, a meal suffused with socio-cultural meaning about good food and good mothering. I develop the concept of precarious digital mothering to examine the hidden, gendered labor created and magnified through Instagram bento accounts. I argue that the creative and entrepreneurial opportunities offered to women though Instagram are inseparable from the cultural meaning of bento as a judgment on good mothering and create a bind where digital success cannot occur without taking on additional domestic food work. Precarity is created both for the mothers who take on unpaid and unrecognized labor in the pursuit of Instagram success, and those who consume their content and the problematic narratives of food and motherhood it normalizes in its idealized and mediated performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]