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Aim: This study aimed to understand the lived experience of rural mothers caring for a child with a chronic health condition and to understand their perspectives on the support, services and resources they identify as necessary to effectively manage caregiving., Background: Maternal caregivers in rural areas experience difficulty accessing specialist health care for their child and can also experience geographical and social isolation. Understanding the factors that enable these maternal caregivers to overcome the challenges and adversities faced is crucial to help nurses identify and facilitate avenues for support and resources., Design: This study employed a phenomenological design. The study is reported in line with Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research guidelines (COREQ)., Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 maternal caregivers in rural New South Wales, Australia, who had at least one child with a chronic health condition aged between 2-18 years. Data were collected from March to June 2018. Thematic analysis was used to develop a thematic framework. This paper reports on one of the major themes identified in this research, specifically maternal resilience., Results: Participants demonstrated maternal resilience by creating meaningful social connections, cultivating networks, developing problem-solving skills, enhancing their self-efficacy and finding a sense of purpose through hope and optimism. These strategies provide nurses insight into how some rural women overcome adversities associated with their maternal labour required in caring for a child with a chronic health condition., Conclusion: This study found that participants overcame the challenges related to their caregiving work, emerging as resilient caregivers. Understanding maternal resilience assists nurses to provide the services rural mothers in Australia need to care for their child with a CHC., Relevance to Clinical Practice: Findings from this study provide insight into the experiences of rural maternal caregivers of children with a chronic health condition and identify the strategies they adopt to overcome caregiver challenges. Understanding these strategies allows nurses to improve care and support for rural mothers using a strength-based approach to build maternal resilience., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Evidence indicates that people in rural settings may experience difficulties in accessing health services, mainly specialist services. Caring for a child with a chronic health condition in a rural environment can present these mothers' challenges. This article reports one of four finding themes from a more extensive qualitative study on rural mothers' experiences of providing care for a child with a chronic health condition. Using hermeneutic phenomenological methods, narrative accounts were collected from 17 rural mothers of children with a chronic health condition in 2018. Analysis revealed that these mothers experienced emotional and physical isolation resulting in an overall theme reported within this article: " Alone in the Outback " : isolation, capturing rural mother's feelings of isolation; comprising three subthemes: On the fringe ; There is no shelter; and Choosing their own direction Their experiences of caring highlighted a need for additional local carer support services and resources. Nurses can assist in supporting rural mothers through facilitating local social support networks enabling women to connect with others in similar caregiving situations. This study reports following the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research guidelines (Tong et al., 2007). . Their experiences of caring highlighted a need for additional local carer support services and resources. Nurses can assist in supporting rural mothers through facilitating local social support networks enabling women to connect with others in similar caregiving situations. This study reports following the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research guidelines (Tong et al., 2007).

Aim: This paper aims to explore women's experiences with healthcare providers to ascertain ways health care may be improved for women disrupted in their mothering., Background: Women can find it difficult to relinquish care even when they are acutely unwell requiring hospitalization. Despite mothering being a priority for women, many healthcare professionals do not understand the importance of continuing to mother during maternal illness., Design: This research used a qualitative methodology drawing on principles of feminism and storytelling., Methods: Women's stories were collected through face-to-face interviews, email and via the telephone. The twenty-seven women who participated were from either Australia or the USA, had between one and six children and identified themselves as having been disrupted in their mothering by illness. Data were collected in 2011 and were analysed thematically., Findings: The majority of participants had been hospitalized at some point in time for acute illness. A subset of participants reported feeling judged by nurses and that their efforts to continue to mother their newborn children despite their illness were misunderstood and not facilitated., Conclusion: Findings from this study suggest that women are more likely to remember times that health professionals failed to understand the primacy that mothering held for them or facilitate their efforts to continue to mother despite illness. Nurses and midwives should regularly reflect on their personal values in regard to mothering, validate women's attempts to mother to the best of their ability during illness and find ways to support and empower women in their mothering., (© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Children with incarcerated mothers experience adverse health, social and emotional circumstances, and are a particularly vulnerable group. Mothers in custody face significant challenges in parenting their children., Aims: The study aimed to identify participants' views on impact of a parenting support programme for incarcerated mothers in NSW Australia., Methods: The mixed-methods study examined 134 responses to open and closed questions on a questionnaire for programme participants., Results: Participants found the programme worthwhile, engaging and relevant. It enhanced their parenting knowledge and confidence. Open-ended responses highlighted program elements which participants valued, specifically support for their parenting role in complicated circumstances, greater understanding of child development and perspectives, and practical strategies for facilitating connections with their children during their incarceration., Conclusions: The study informs nurses working with women who have experienced incarceration and their children, both in custodial and community settings.

Background: Many women privilege the mothering role over other areas of their lives, and for ill women, it can be difficult to relinquish maternal responsibility. Not being able to mother in their usual way can have consequences for women's wellbeing and view of themselves as 'good' mothers., Method: In this study, 77 mothers of dependent children were interviewed about their experiences of illness, and the social support they received., Results: Despite their illnesses, participants in this study continued to feel they were primarily responsible for the wellbeing and care of their children, and were distressed if they were unable to adequately fulfil the primary carer role. As participants sometimes found it difficult to care for their children, help with childcare emerged as an important element of social support. Seeking assistance with care for children revealed a tension between support that was accessible and support that was acceptable., Conclusion: Mothering while ill is difficult and women facing illness may need encouragement to accept help to continue to meet their maternal responsibilities. Nurses are in an excellent position to encourage women to identify and draw upon sources of support to assist them in maintaining their mothering role while ill.

Objective: To assess body mass index (BMI [kg/m2]) tracking over a four-year period in 4- to 8-year-old Mexican American (MA) children and to explore associations between mother and child's BMI., Design: A longitudinal study design was used to assess 138 subjects (69 MA children and 69 MA mothers). Children were classified as normal weight if age- and sex-specific BMI was < 85th percentile and overweight or at-risk for overweight if BMI was > or = 85th percentile. Mothers with a BMI < 25 kg/m2 were classified as normal weight and overweight if BMI was > or = 25 kg/m2., Results: The percentages of children overweight or at-risk for overweight were 34.8%, 36.2%, 40.6% and 39.1% for years 1-4, respectively. A positive correlation was found between the children's BMI status across the four years of the study (r=.90 to .95, P<.001). Furthermore, at-risk for overweight or overweight children in year 1 were highly likely to be overweight or at-risk for overweight in year 4 (adjusted OR: 67.7, 95% CI: 11.7-386.4, P<.001). The correlation coefficients between mothers and daughters' BMIs during the four years were significant (P<.01), but not between mothers and sons' BMIs., Conclusion: Overweight or at-risk for overweight status tracks well during childhood and early adolescence among low-income MA children. Sex differences were found concerning associations between mother and their child's BMI.

The present study examined maternal education, acculturation, and health locus of control beliefs in relation to parenting strategies that promote the internalization of healthy eating habits in Mexican-American children. Eighty low-income Mexican-American mothers and their 4- to 8-year-old children participated in the study. Mother-child interactions during dinner were observed, and mothers were interviewed about the socialization strategies they used to influence their children's food consumption. Results indicated that mothers with more external health locus of control beliefs were less likely to use socialization techniques associated with internalization. Acculturation was negatively related to the use of internalization techniques, with less traditional mothers using more directive strategies. Education did not predict maternal behavior after controlling for health locus of control beliefs.

Disciplinary attitudes and practices of low-income black mothers were examined. Mothers were interviewed about their parenting attitudes and control practices, and their responses were coded in terms of the degree to which they took a parent-versus a child-oriented approach to discipline. Mothers in the sample varied widely in their attitudes toward physical punishment, and mothers who used power-assertive techniques were as likely to take the child's perspective and give input into the socialization process as those who did not. Factors associated with maternal disciplinary styles included: maternal education, father absence, maternal age, and self-reported religious beliefs. Findings are discussed in terms of the variability in disciplinary practices in this population, as well as the factors contributing to these individual differences.

The socialization of physical attractiveness stereotypes and its relationship to self-concept among parent/child dyads has not been previously examined. This study examined the relationship between mothers' and daughters' judgements of body size and the impact of size on subjects' judgements of attractiveness. Mexican-American mothers and their 7-12-year-old daughters completed attractiveness ratings of five figures of girls varying in body size and indicated which of these figures were closest to the perceived and ideal sizes of the daughter. One-half of the mothers were obese and had participated in a behavioral weight loss program, while the other half served as normal weight controls. Self-concept measures were also completed by all subjects. Daughters tended to prefer a thinner figure than did mothers. The control mothers indicated almost no preference for body size, with nearly uniform rankings for obese, normal and thin figures. The daughters ranked their own ideal figures as thinner than their perceived figures, but mothers' rankings of their daughters' ideal and actual sizes were congruent. Daughter's overall self-concept was predicted by age, their own size and their mother's size. Control but not intervention mothers' self-concept was negatively correlated with their size.