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In this paper, we explore the lived experiences of mother-coaches who, while coaching, navigate policy and programs aimed at promoting gender equity. Specifically, this study took place within the context of an amateur national, 10-day multisport games event in Canada. Using critical feminist narrative inquiry, 14 mother-coaches (apprentice, assistant, or head coach), representing eight different provinces, and 10 different sports, participated in this study. Three themes were constructed that call attention to the Canadian sport system broadly, as well as the 10-day multisport games event specifically: (a) performative policies and gendered assumptions, (b) programs that are band-aids for a "shitty culture," and (c) a pathway to nowhere for mother-coaches. The findings complicate the hegemonic work–family conflict narrative, suggesting that mother-coaches' advancement, opportunities, and quality experiences are impacted by the current heteropatriarchal culture and structure of sport that these programs and policy are rooted in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing literature provides nascent insights into structural arrangements that shape mothers' experiences of being a sport fan, yet we know little about the social meaning sport fandom holds for mothers. This exploratory study draws on qualitative interviews with 41 mothers from Australia and North America to examine their understandings of sport fandom in the context of their everyday lives and contemporary ideologies about mothering. Findings suggest that sport fandom presents an opportunity for mothers to redefine and transform both fan and mothering practices, thereby challenging popular orthodoxies that fandom becomes less important to women after having children. By foregrounding mothers' efforts to stay engaged with their fandom, we extend research on the experiences of women sport fans and offer alternatives to normative constructs of fandom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is the first to examine experiences of women with leadership roles in the U.K. Higher Education sport sector. We carried out detailed interviews with women leaders. We utilized Bourdieu's model of habitus, capital, and field; Acker's concept of "gendered organizations;" and Shilling's concept of physical capital. Our findings show Higher Education operates more inclusively than the wider sport sector, which has the potential to advance gender equality. However, gendered practices remain with women working harder to accumulate and convert capital. Motherhood negatively impacts conversion of capital and respondents without children felt this benefitted their career. Finally, we discuss the impact of menopause on the careers of women and suggest this can impact self-perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postpartum mothers are susceptible to lumbopelvic pain which may be exacerbated by loading, like carrying their infant in arms and with baby carriers. Nulliparous women carrying infant mannequins may biomechanically mimic mother–infant dyad, but this has not been studied. The purpose of our study was to investigate biomechanical differences of 10 mothers carrying their infants and 10 nulliparous women carrying infant mannequins under 3 gait conditions: carrying nothing, carrying in arms, and carrying in a baby carrier (babywearing). Spatiotemporal gait parameters, peak ground reaction forces and impulses, and lower extremity and trunk kinematics were collected using motion capture and force plates and compared using a mixed 2 × 3 (parity × condition) analysis of variance (α ≤.05). The largest differences occurred between carrying conditions: carrying in arms or babywearing increased vertical and anteroposterior ground reaction forces, trunk extension, ankle dorsiflexion, and hip and knee flexion. Kinematic differences were identified between arms and babywearing conditions. Together this suggests alterations in joint loading for both groups. Our study also contributes a novel understanding of postpartum health by demonstrating alterations in step time, anterior forces, and ankle and knee mechanics, suggesting that during gait, mothers carrying their own infants choose different propulsive strategies than nulliparous women carrying mannequins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little evidence is available from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities on the association between motherhood and physical activity (PA). This study aimed to examine independent and joint associations of cultural background and motherhood with meeting PA guidelines, participation in organized sports, and high sitting time (>8 h/d). Methods: We used self-reported cross-sectional data from survey 8 of the 1973–1978 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. PA was measured using the Active Australia Survey while organized sport and sitting time were measured using single items. CALD was defined as being born in a non-English speaking country or primarily speaking a non-English language at home. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression analyses were used to examine independent and joint associations. Results: Data from 5967 women (mean age 42.4 [SD 1.5] y, 6.9% CALD, 81.2% mothers) were analyzed. Women of CALD background had lower odds of meeting PA guidelines (odds ratio; 95% confidence interval: 0.80; 0.64–0.98) and participation in organized sports (0.68; 0.54–0.86), but no statistically significant association with sitting time (0.90; 0.72–1.14). Mothers had lower odds of meeting PA guidelines (0.75; 0.64–0.87) and high sitting time (0.42; 0.36–0.49). Compared with non-CALD women without children, mothers (irrespective of cultural background) were less likely to meet PA guidelines and have high sitting time. The association of "cultural background and motherhood" with organized sports participation was only significant for CALD mothers. Conclusions: Increased efforts and investments are needed to ensure that sports and other PA promotion interventions are culturally sensitive and engaging for CALD women and those with children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although liminal theory explains transitional periods in consumers' lives – such as preadolescence – the impact of these transitions on emotionally connected actors and the transformations that the latter endure have been largely overlooked. Through a qualitative study of the mothers of preteen girls, we show that liminality spills over and that mothers transform from fully needed to authoritative-friendly moms. During this process, these mothers engage in spilled-over liminal consumption (SOLC), which comprehends concomitantly loosely and creatively crafted rituals and new and re-signified routines. However, amid the process of assuming a new mother's role and helping their daughters' transformation, these mothers unreflectively reinforce traditional gender norms. Based on our findings, we discuss the process of SOLC and how it ends in reproducing gender and class-based stereotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The age of Danish women giving birth to their first child has risen throughout the last 50 years, and the number of women and men who are having their first child when they are at advanced maternal or paternal age is increasing worldwide. Postponing parenthood is not unique to Denmark, as the same pattern is seen especially in other European and Western countries. The aim of this study was in a social media setting to explore reflections on the timing of motherhood among Danish women of reproductive age who not yet had children. Method: This study was a qualitative study based on three online focus groups on Facebook. Twenty-six women of reproductive age discussed the timing of motherhood for three days in January 2020. Data were analyzed using Systematic Text Condensation. Results: Three main themes were identified: 'Life before parenthood', 'To plan for a child' and 'A life without children'. Several external and internal conditions influence whether and if so when women consider becoming mothers. Regarding the biological capacity for having children, women compare themselves with their female relatives and friends and colleagues regarding the social norms surrounding motherhood. Women with no children often experience either positive or negative pressure from family, friends, and colleagues regarding when to have children. Conclusion: Several internal and external considerations influence when and if women become mothers. Social surroundings such as family, friends, and colleagues have an impact on women's reproductive considerations in terms of pressure to have children in the future. Danish women tend to compare their reproductive capacity to their female relatives and compare the social norms surrounding motherhood to their female friends. Women in this study were positive towards discussing the timing of motherhood with other women of reproductive age on social media. Plain english summary: The age of women giving birth to their first child has risen throughout the last 50 years, and the number of Danish women and men having their first child when they are at advanced maternal or paternal is increasing. Postponing motherhood is not unique to Denmark, as the same pattern is seen especially in other European and Western countries. In this study, we explored the reflections on the timing of motherhood among Danish women of reproductive age who had not yet had children. Using a novel approach, we conducted three online focus groups on the social media platform Facebook. Twenty-six women aged 18–43 years without children, regardless of whether they wanted to have children in the future, were included. The study revealed several internal and external considerations influencing when and if women establish a family. Regarding their biological capacity for having children, women tend to compare themselves to their female relatives and their friends and colleagues regarding the social norms surrounding motherhood. Women with no children often experience pressure from family, friends, and colleagues about when to have children, which can be perceived as unfavorable while at the same time being experienced as motivating for planning future motherhood. Women in this study were positive towards discussing the timing of motherhood with other women of reproductive age on social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States is a global leader in estimated rates of civilian gun ownership, and over the past few years—as the country grappled with a struggling economy exacerbated by a global pandemic—gun‐buying surged. We argue that the COVID‐19 pandemic's economic impact has implications for gun purchasing interest, and this intersects with gendered expectations about familial roles. Integrating sociological scholarship on gender and families with consumer behavior research, and using a preregistered online survey of over 8000 American adults collected in the early months of the pandemic's emergence in the United States (May 2020–June 2020), we hypothesize that men in familial roles may express greater gun interest in response to financial instability, and theorize why such a process may also be observed among women. Analyses show that men's gun interest is unaffected by family roles or financial distress. Women in family roles—mothers, in particular—who experience financial stress, however, are significantly more amenable toward guns than other women and express interest at levels approaching those of men. We discuss how such findings increase our understanding of the heterogeneity of gun owners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last four decades, feminist sports media research has developed into an established transdisciplinary branch of research that contributes to highlighting the contradictions and unevenness of social change at the level of women's sports and its positioning in society. In this context, the increasing media visibility of athlete mothers as an expression of an emerging social phenomenon provides an opportunity to examine and reflect on the patterns of media portrayal of sportswomen. This article focuses on the media representations of Gloria Kotnik, the Slovenian snowboarder and bronze medalist at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Through textual analysis, it attempts to identify how Kotnik was portrayed in selected Slovenian media and what role her motherhood, in particular, played in this. While ambivalence was identified as a predominant pattern in the media representations of Kotnik, the role of motherhood was presented both as something seemingly incompatible with the role of an elite athlete and in a way that perceived these two roles as compatible. Due to the reproduction of traditional gender ideologies and hierarchies, the article problematizes both patterns and concludes by linking the desire for social change with the need to redefine the ethics of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although a child‐ and family‐centred care (CFCC) philosophy has been emphasized and adopted for decades in paediatric critical care settings in several countries, numerous issues from parents' perspectives regarding the philosophy remain unresolved. To facilitate the full translation of CFCC into clinical practice, health care professionals need an in‐depth understanding of family experiences. Real‐life mothering experiences, including maternal roles and identities, remain largely unknown at paediatric intensive care units (PICUs) in the Republic of Korea, where family visitation, presence, and participation are restricted. Aim: To explore mothering experiences at a PICU where family visitation is strictly constrained, and to identify maternal needs and values. Study Design: We conducted a qualitative descriptive study of eight individual in‐depth interviews with seven mothers of hospitalized children. Qualitative data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Findings: Five major themes, along with four subthemes, emerged: (1) shifts in maternal roles and responsibilities, (2) shifts in interpersonal relationships, (3) desire for CFCC in the PICU, (4) practising self‐defined mothering roles, and (5) reconstructing maternal identities. The themes revealed the experiences of becoming mothers of a child in a constrained PICU. Ultimately, mothers demanded that the unit improve its physical and cultural environments through, for example, liberalized family visitation and participation in the care of their children. Conclusions: Nursing professionals should lead the charge for humanizing a restrictive PICU in the Republic of Korea by ensuring a safe and open environment and mothering continuity based on child‐ and family‐centred holistic care. Relevance to Clinical Practice: Effective interventions must be developed and tested to globally establish and fully implement strong evidence‐based CFCC in PICUs; constant co‐commitment among children, families, health care professionals, and institutions is also necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the first few months of life, infants display intriguing individual differences in how they react to novel stimuli in their environment. Infant "negative reactive" tendencies have been robustly linked to resting brain activity profiles that confer risk for maladaptive socioemotional outcomes. The present study examines whether and how caregiver behavior in early infancy may interact with infant negative reactivity to alter the extent to which such tendencies predict risk-related brain activity profiles. In the present study, 51 mothers (all White; age M = 32 years, SD = 3; 70.8% monthly household income >3,400 U.S. dollars) and their infants (39.2% female at birth) participated. We measured infant negative reactivity and maternal contingent responsiveness to infant's gaze during mother–infant interactions at age 4 months. At 10–11 months, we assessed infants' resting electroencephalographic (EEG) 6–9 Hz frontal asymmetry (a marker of risk for maladaptive regulatory behaviors and withdrawal), infant fearful withdrawal, and infant empathic behavior. We found that maternal contingent responsiveness to 4-month-old infant's gaze in naturalistic interactions moderated the relation between 4-month infant negative reactivity and 11-month resting EEG asymmetry. Results suggest that maternal contingent responsiveness alters the extent to which early reactive tendencies end up "embedded" in infant brain activity profiles. Exploratory analyses revealed that the interaction between maternal contingent responsiveness and infant reactivity predicting infant resting EEG asymmetry, in turn predicted infants' fearful withdrawal and empathic behaviors also assessed at 10–11 months. Findings demonstrate the critical buffering role of maternal contingent responsive behaviors in reducing potential maladaptive neural and socioemotional outcomes. Public Significance Statements: We demonstrate that early infant reactive tendencies and maternal contingent responsive behaviors interact as early as 4-months of age to shape the infant's brain across the first year. Findings suggest this interaction between infant reactive tendencies and maternal behaviors may further support the emergence of early empathy and prevent psychopathology risk. Critically, we identify an early "environmental buffer" in maternal behavior that serves to mitigate risk, well before the onset of psychopathology. Our findings underscore the importance of early prevention and inform its planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spring 2019, there was a heated debate in the media concerning the Al-Hol camp in Syria, where a number of women and children were detained. This article explores intersectional dynamics of exclusion in online comments on news items regarding the repatriation of women and children from Al-Hol to Finland. The analytical framework is based on critical discursive psychology combined with an intersectional lens. The analysis distinguished three interpretative repertoires: the repertoire of a foreign threat, the repertoire of neglected maternal obligations, and the repertoire of irrationality. Within these repertoires, three subject positions were also applied to women—the deceitful villain, the bad mother, and brainwashed fools—with two subject positions applied to children—innocent children and future threats. The analysis shows the dialectical nature of positionings through which the Otherness of these women is constructed via the interplay with evaluations of their motherhood and positions applied to other actors, such as Muslim men and Finns. Moreover, the analysis shows how positionings mobilise intersectional categorisations based on gender, age, ethnicity, religion, nationality, and race. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of postpartum depression (PPD) exceeds 20% in China. In this article, we unpack the coping strategies and involuntary responses to PPD among Chinese women and how such patterns are shaped by family communication dynamics and reflect distinct social, structural, and cultural contexts. Drawing upon the communication accommodation theory and the generic stress and coping model, we analyzed 661 posts collected under the hashtag #PPD (chanhou yiyuzheng) on Zhihu using the phronetic iterative approach. The analysis reveals that women self-identifying as having PPD often find themselves situated within a family environment marked by non-adaptive communication, culminating in insufficient support from their social circles. Furthermore, a significant number of these women lack effective coping mechanisms to manage PPD. Instead, they tend to stifle their expressions and needs through automatic responses, dedicating themselves to constant self-monitoring without practicing self-care. Our findings contribute to informed policymaking for postpartum support, addressing nuanced challenges encountered by new mothers in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the timely yet greatly under-researched interplay between home-based work (HBW) and women's birth transitions. Past research has shown that HBW may facilitate and/or jeopardize work–family balance, depending on the worker's family and work circumstances. Following that research, we develop here a theoretical framework on how HBW can facilitate or hinder fertility. Using the UK Household Longitudinal Study 2009–19 and random-effects cloglog regression, we study the link between HBW and first- and second-birth risks. We find that HBW is negatively associated with the transition to motherhood and unrelated to the progression to a second child. We also show that HBW helps to enable women to have children if they would otherwise face a long commute. All in all, our findings do not support the idea that the spread of HBW will lead to an immediate increase in fertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The principal objective of this research is to analyse the representations of the pregnant body through the visual creativity of content creators on Instagram. This is a descriptive research project employing an analyticalsynthetic methodology and a narratological approach. The research questions addressed the type of publication, its style, and the diversity of experiences shared by future mothers. A total of 182 publications by three influencer profiles during their pregnancy stage were subjected to analysis. One of the principal findings of this study is that profiles aligned with the Realmom movement tend to share a greater number of maternal narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how becoming a mother—and navigating such a complicated life transition—while pursuing an academic career impacts the way female researchers perceive themselves as acting subjects. By analyzing in‐depth virtual interviews with Italian female early career researchers, this work explores the relationship between fertility decisions, motherhood hardships, self‐identity, and career‐related experiences in the interviewees' biographical trajectories. Despite their consideration of childbearing as a mental and practical obstacle to scientific production, many of the interviewees ascribe positive career outcomes to the arrival of their first child. The reflexivity set in motion by the interview process allows us to observe the collected interviews as double‐layered narratives. The postponement of fertility choices and the presence of work‐family conflict tend to be described as ordinary facets of a common career pattern, intrinsic to the female academic working experience. Meanwhile, the positive impacts of motherhood on self‐identity and work‐related skills are recounted on a more individual level, framed as a sort of paradox, a personal journey of self‐discovery or—to some extent ‐ a heroic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enmeshed in the materiality of caregiving, becoming a mother changes how one relates to the world and others. These changes involve how a mother as subject is defined by others through cultural and societal idealizations of motherhood and parenting norms, but also through the leaking boundaries between the mother and other subjects as she is attuned to the needs of caregiving. In this analysis, I consider maternal subjectivity in terms of working as an artist‐mother, defined as an artist who is also a mother and whose practice does not distinguish between these roles. In particular, I focus on the process of my development of a creative coding project, Emergent, during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Through this analysis of the process of developing Emergent, I attend to the questions of maternal subjectivity that arose through its production, drawing from the embodied experiences of working as an artist‐mother, in order to understand maternal subjectivity through the practice of computation. Here the work of producing art becomes the means of considering maternal subjectivity differently through embodied experience, as the labor affiliated with care‐giving is entangled with the process of art making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worker mothers still struggle to find a good balance between their care and work identities. Most research on motherhood at work focuses on how organizational structures can enable professional women to find a balance between caring and work identities neglecting their personal experiences and how they understand themselves in relation to both motherhood and work. We propose to use a liminal identity work perspective to explore the identity tensions that professional women experience during their transition into motherhood and how they manage it. To explore this question, we conducted a qualitative study over 2 years with worker mothers in Latin and North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Africa. The thematic and narrative analysis of 80 individual narrative interviews shows the emergence of two coexisting identity narratives. The first narrative understands motherhood as a linear process, where women experience liminality, uncertainty, and identity loss but eventually return to work after having aggregated their new worker mother identities during maternity leaves. The second coexisting narrative challenges this linear and finite view by highlighting the transition to motherhood as a continuous, liminoid, and never‐ending process. The two narratives are contextualized and managed differently according to the different cultural, historical, and social contexts where they are developed; the overall results present motherhood as a 'liminoid' experience that requires constant identity work to navigate the tensions emerging between potentially new and customary identities and behaviors in work contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study contributes to the literature on migration, motherhood, and work by exploring how migrant stay‐at‐home mothers view and interpret the values of the unpaid work that they are conducting. Using semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with 36 college‐educated Chinese stay‐at‐home mothers in Singapore, we demonstrate migrant mothers' agency, efforts, and strategies in valuing domestic work and their stay‐at‐home mother status. Drawing on their migration status and relatively privileged educational backgrounds, elite migrant mothers re‐imagine and construct values of stay‐at‐home motherhood by framing their role as productive workers and by linking private and public spheres. Findings demonstrate four distinctive yet related processes that shape how mothers value and validate their domestic work and current status: emphasizing the agentic nature of their work decision, framing their maternal practice as having high quality, identifying the merits of current stay‐at‐home motherhood experiences on their future career pathway, and constructing a shared value of domestic work with their spouses. In the end, this study highlights the importance of going beyond the separate‐spheres ideology in understanding how skilled migrant mothers construct the productive meaning of their stay‐at‐home motherhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The TV drama A Love for Dilemma (2021) has sparked widespread debates on motherhood and gender in China. This article explores the intricacy of the show's representation of "bad mother." While conventional perspectives often view motherhood as a realm of private intimacy, insufficient attention has been given to the distinctiveness of Chinese-style motherhood and its intersection with family, neoliberalism, and state politics. This article addresses the importance of analyzing the televisual representation of motherhood to gain insight into how the interplay between patriarchy, the market and the state configures maternal subjectivity, particularly under the leadership of Xi Jinping. By examining the emotional meaning of motherhood produced by the TV series, this study unveils the inherent contradiction of mother love as a site of political investment. It argues that the ambivalence surrounding mother love stems from its entanglement with patriarchal expectations, the burdens of emotional labor, and the state's vested interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fertility rates have significantly declined in advanced, industrialized nations. The factors contributing to these swift demographic changes are diverse, but it is evident that women are opting for fewer children, delaying childbirth, and a growing number of individuals are choosing not to have children. Most studies on voluntary childlessness depict it as a growing phenomenon in Western societies and predict that the voluntary childless population will continue to increase. To explore this trend, examining individuals' and couples' fertility choices within the context of evolving parenting culture proves insightful. This study explores the concept of modern parenthood by interviewing 12 Icelandic voluntarily childfree individuals and five couples by examining the decision-making process associated with choosing not to have a child and exploring its connection to prevailing parenting norms. The Icelandic context provides an interesting research backdrop, given its emphasis on gender equality, diverse family structures, and policies that support both parents' participation in work and childcare. The results indicate that women perceive the role of motherhood as mentally and emotionally draining, complex, and requiring significant personal sacrifices. This suggests that narratives of intensive mothering can directly influence and inform decisions on fertility in the Icelandic context where becoming a parent is seen as a choice, which can even stand in the way of personal fulfilment and autonomy. While the interviewees acknowledge the unequal responsibilities and duties of mothers and fathers, they do not question the individualism and intensity that characterize modern parenthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The population of women in jail increased by 15% from 2008 to 2018. A portion of this increase was due to state policies shifting individuals serving sentences of 1–5 years to local jails to reduce prison overcrowding. In-depth interviews with 62 women serving long-term sentences in local jails in Central and Eastern Kentucky were conducted to examine how they navigated motherhood in this carceral setting. Findings suggested that despite the salient role that motherhood played in their lives, jails provided few meaningful opportunities for women to perform identity-congruent behaviors or receive verification of their maternal identity. Implications for reintegration, desistance, and theoretically relevant intervention models are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we seek to intervene in the proposition that there are recognisable or abstract-able modes of doing qualitative writing, and instead affirm that writing from a feminist scholarly perspective is often an embodied, domestic, haptic and serendipitous gesture. Occurring in in-between spaces and moments, in which personal and professional life frequently meld, with porous boundaries, our writing practices appear to talk back rhetorically to the notion of writing qualitatively. What are the qualities of qualitative writing? Within education (our field) quality can seem to masquerade as a measurable, generalizable thing, implying a 'gold standard' or that different writing practices or products can or should be compared or ranked. For us, writing is frequently encountered as serendipitous, messy and intricately entwined with daily life at numerous scales. This is not to suggest that writing magically takes shape, but rather it is un-abstract-able from daily routines, situations and energies at local and global scales. In the middle of these situations, writing happens when it takes precedence, at whatever cost that might be to bodies, relationships and domestic schedules. Working with a range of feminist philosophers, we draw the temporal, situated, mattering of writing into focus. This paper engages in non-linear story-telling about the processes of our collaborative writing of this paper. We are particularly inspired by Stewart's (2007:75) approach to writing to convey moments of ordinary life, which she describes as 'a circuit that is always tuned into some little something, somewhere. A mode of attending to the possible and the threatening'. We dwell upon the somethings and the somewheres as a means to draw out the temporal passing by of life in all its messiness, as a piece of writing comes together, tracing moments of shimmering intensity and mundane frustration and distraction throughout the work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have paid little attention to child supervision in Laos, an ethnically‐diverse country with a community‐informal child protection system, and where many young children are regularly home alone or with another child. To explore what constitutes (in)adequate child supervision and its perceived effects, we conducted individual interviews with community leaders and professionals (n = 23) and focus group discussions with parents/adult caregivers (n = 74) and 12–17 year‐old children (n = 51) in six rural villages in Saravane and Borikhamxay provinces. Adults and children in both provinces described similar understandings and support systems of child supervision. Mothers are the main caregivers of young children, and literate fathers contribute to supervising school‐age children. Grandparents, older siblings and other relatives, teachers, and village authorities contribute substantively to child supervision. The main aims of supervision are child safety, socialization and moral development in cultural context. Parental unavailability due to employment, farming and migration; limited infrastructure; and lack of material resources are the main barriers to adequate supervision and may result in injuries, school dropout, teenage pregnancy and illicit drug use. Understanding the determinants, consequences, and patterns of child supervision across cultural and socio‐economic groups is needed to inform culturally acceptable strategies to support children and families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The infants of women with histories of problematic alcohol and other drug use are among the most vulnerable children known to statutory child protection services, which they enter at a younger age, and in which they remain longer. The net results include overwhelmed child protection systems and the birth of subsequent children conceived to ease women's grief at the loss their infants. Without adequate and appropriate support to the mother and her family, the pattern repeats. Obstetric services have an important role to play in the assessment of risk and protective factors in the perinatal period and in determining pathways to service provision. A comprehensive assessment considers the availability and quality of informal support prior to activation of formal systems of support, both statutory, where engagement is mandated, and non‐statutory, where support is offered on a voluntary basis. This paper uses quantitative methods to explore the social networks of women with problematic substance use in the transition to motherhood and the relationship between formal and informal support systems and infant outcomes. Surveys were held with two counsellors from the Women's Alcohol and Drug Service (WADS), a specialist obstetric clinic in Melbourne, Australia, and with 18 child protection workers. In addition, the Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire (Norbeck, 1984; Norbeck et al., 1983) was administered with 20 participating mothers to measure levels of formal and informal support, as well as the type and quality of support available to mothers over a 12‐month period, and to consider the provision of social support against known outcomes for infants. The findings demonstrate that WADS counsellors made several referrals for most women but that there was little in the way of long‐term follow‐up by non‐statutory service providers, with most women experiencing a dramatic drop in support over the 12‐month period. Women whose main informal support was from a domestically violent partner, and those who had been in out‐of‐home care in their own childhood, were particularly vulnerable to losing the care of their infant. The role of child protection varied markedly across the 12‐month period, particularly in relation to the extent that a relationship between formal and informal systems of support for mothers and their infants could be established. Overall, the study findings demonstrate that mothers experienced diminishing formal and informal support over time and that the quality of social support available to the mother was more important in terms of outcomes for women and their infants than the quantity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper underlines the importance of accounting for non‐base compensation in explaining the motherhood wage gap. We consider two alternative measures of hourly wage using Italian EU‐SILC data from 2007 to 2019: the base‐wage and the full‐wage. The former refers to the contractual base wage, while the latter includes performance‐based bonuses, productivity bonuses, commissions, pay incentives, and other extra payments. We address the endogeneity issues of motherhood and examine the effect of motherhood status across various quantiles of the wage distribution for the two hourly wage measures. Empirical findings provide evidence of a motherhood base‐wage premium, which becomes nonsignificant when using the full‐wage measure, suggesting that non‐base compensation is a source of inequality for mothers. These findings are consistent across the wage distribution. Exploring potential heterogeneity across macro‐regions and periods, we find no notable regional disparities except minor distinctions for the Southern regions, alongside a decline in the base‐wage premium over time and the emergence of a full‐wage penalty in recent years. A comparative analysis with a sample of men reveals that fathers enjoy a premium with both wage measures. Nevertheless, fatherhood is also associated with reduced extra remunerations, yet to a lesser extent than motherhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postnatal experience is one of the most under-researched areas within medical sociology and anthropology scholarship in India. Using a qualitative lens, this study examines the postnatal experiences of a particular class of working mothers in Bengaluru, one of India's fastest-growing cities. Through in-depth interviews, the study demonstrates that the postnatal experience of working mothers is layered with social and cultural factors. The findings also revealed that after the delivery, the child is prioritised over the mother, who hardly receives any mental support from her spouse, family members or external network ties. Additionally, these working mothers are often criticised for neglecting motherhood responsibilities and instead focusing on their careers. Expanding the scholarship on postnatal experience, this article highlights the mental agonies and issues faced by working mothers in urban India, as well as in privileged classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Children's exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) is a form of child abuse and can have serious detrimental consequences on their health and well-being. Research has shown that a strong relationship with a caring adult, often the mother, is a protective factor against those consequences. For this reason, this study attempts to understand the overall experiences of victimized mothers with perpetrators, professionals, and institutions in the years following IPV disclosure. Methods: We conducted 20 semi-structured individual interviews in Switzerland in 2020 with former patients who had been provided with a clinical forensic consultation between 2011 and 2014. The participants had reported IPV between 2011 and 2014 and had at least one minor child at the time. Results: Victimized mothers continued to experience harmful behaviors from perpetrators/fathers after IPV disclosure. They reported feeling in danger and that the perpetrators/fathers benefited from a certain level of impunity. In parallel, the mothers were held accountable for the safety and well-being of their children in this context. These overall and multi-year experiences had short-term and long-term negative impacts on the mothers' and children's health, financial and administrative situation, relationship, and on school life. In this sample, the years following IPV disclosure were characterized by an enduring sense of ordeal. Conclusions: The professional and institutional handling of IPV situations, in relation to both victims and perpetrators, can endanger victimized mothers and their children and put them at risk of adverse consequences after IPV disclosure. Avenues for change to better protect mother and child and to provide relief to the mothers as an important protective factor for their children are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing upon a growing body of research in feminist care theory, this essay argues that Mary Seacole's representation of care in her 1857 autobiography, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands, uses maternal rhetoric to reinforce a Victorian vision of care grounded in feminine hospitality and domestic comfort. The essay considers Seacole's narrative as both a sentimentalist story that sanitises care labour through her use of the figurative 'mother,' and as a testimony to the centrality of care labour, so often invisibilised, in grand narratives of history. I analyse this vision alongside Jackie Sibblies Drury's 2019 play Marys Seacole, which reconsiders Seacole's legacy by arguing instead for an entangled, interdependent model of care relations that explicitly attends to differences in class and race. Drury's play ambivalently explores what is both inspiring and fraught within Seacole's original narrative; its final dramatic thrust, which finds its characters clinging to the iconography of 'Mother Seacole' while physically clutching onto one another, registers the inadequacy of a care model dependent upon exploited mother figures and suggests the need for lateral, multiracial, and multigenerational networks of mutual support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New parents must decide how to divide household, childcare, and financial responsibilities. These divisions can be difficult, especially when couples' wants do not align. Interviewing ethnically and racially diverse new parents (n = 198 couples), we explore how parents' desired allocation of childcare, household, and financial tasks differ from perceived distribution and whether discrepancies relate to coparenting relationship quality. All parents perceived mothers doing more housework and childcare and fathers contributing more financially. When women reported doing more housework and childcare than wanted, coparenting relationship quality was lower. For women, discrepancies between what they and their partners report was associated with lower coparenting relationship quality. Findings reflect traditional gender roles among new parents and women's desire for their partners to take on more household and childcare work. Such findings can help inform parenting interventions for new parents, encouraging communication between partners about the division of tasks to support their coparenting relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parenting has been found to be highly contextually and culturally determined and there have been calls to research parenting within culture as it is lived. Due to changing social and economic factors, middle-class South African mothers face unique challenges in relation to the navigation of culture and class in child-rearing. Foregrounding the complexity of acculturation, this paper uses social constructionist theory in the analysis of maternal narratives and responses to video-recordings of their interaction with their infants, of a group of middle-class South African mothers from various cultural and racial groups, with an aim to understanding how mothering is changing amongst middle-class South African mothers. The findings suggest that acculturation is complex and influenced by a combination of socioeconomic status, geographical location, contact with other cultural groups and personal emotional experiences of having been parented within a particular culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper examines the relationship between journalism, caregiving, and family-building, focusing on women journalists in Portugal. Drawing on a critical thematic analysis of thirty interviews, it explores an analytic framework that includes cultural, structural, and agentic dimensions of career limitations, organised in three overarching themes. The first examines how women journalists experience work constraints stemming from traditional cultural ideals where women are still the main caregivers and work cultures that perpetuate a male perspective on professional routines. The second theme explores the mismatch between work and care responsibilities that arises from prevailing family structures and work processes. The third theme centres on how women journalists respond to constraints by making choices and developing strategies. Journalists’ reflexive deliberations about career decisions, employment conditions, family life and cultural assumptions underpinning parenthood demonstrate the complex interrelationship between cultural and working structures, organisational materiality, and agency. Together, these dimensions replicate patterns that make journalism more inhospitable for women. A central point in this research is that while a systemic gender bias exists beyond the sector, workplace inequalities are particularly consequential for journalism and democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Background Method Results Conclusion Implications This qualitative study aimed to gain an in‐depth understanding of mothers' experiences of uncertainty in parenting 13‐ and 17‐month‐old toddlers.The transition to parenthood is universally acknowledged as a challenging period, particularly for first‐time mothers, with societal expectations emphasizing perfection in childcare. This study explores specific uncertainties faced by Czech mothers in caring for toddlers.A thematic analysis was conducted after individual semistructured interviews conducted during home visits between 2016 and 2018 with 90 Czech women whose children were aged between 13 and 17 months.Five overarching themes and 13 subthemes reflecting how Czech mothers experienced feelings of uncertainty in parenting their toddlers were identified: (a) uncertainties connected to a purposefulness in parenting, (b) uncertainties connected to fulfilling physical needs, (c) dealing with current parenting issues, (d) uncertainties connected to the mother's characteristics and her family relationships, (e) uncertainties connected to developing the child.This study contributes to early motherhood literature by detailing uncertainties experienced by Czech mothers during the toddlerhood phase.Our study illuminates the uncertainties experienced by Czech mothers during early toddlerhood, emphasizing the need for counsellors to renegotiate societal ideals of motherhood, foster resilience in parent–child relationships, and embrace uncertainties as natural aspects of parenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The single-child issue is a significant contributor to population decline, which adversely affects both parents and children. Despite government-approved incentives, the single-child problem remains a major population challenge. This study was conducted to explore the perceptions and experiences of single-child couples regarding childbearing incentives. Methods: This qualitative study used conventional content analysis and was performed on 21 single-child couples in Mashhad, North East Iran, selected through purposive sampling from urban health centers. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews until saturation was reached. The data were analyzed using the Elo and Kyngas (J Adv Nurs 62(1):107-15, 2008. 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2007.04569.x) method with MaxQDA10 software. Results: Two generic categories emerged from the data analysis including (1) "Advertising and providing information as an influencing factor to encourage childbearing", which included two subcategories of "Attention to the key lever of advertising" and "Necessity of adopting advertising policies and creating a culture of respecting maternal role", and (2) "Focusing on effective incentive policies", which consisted of three subcategories of "Adopting incentive policies to reduce people's financial problems", "Avoiding punitive policies" and "Need to adopt incentive policies for working women and elites". Conclusions: Incentive policies should focus on the culture building of the general public, implementing effective incentive policies, and addressing economic challenges, particularly for specific groups such as working women and higher education students. In addition, a public mobilization effort is needed to effectively implement population laws. Plain English summary: Single-child issue is a challenge, being a cause of population decline, and poses adverse effects on both parents and children. Various childbearing incentive policies exist, but single-child couples' perceptions regarding these incentives have been less explored. To encourage childbearing, it is crucial to implement effective advertising and information release among the target groups, based on respecting the maternal role and addressing conflicting attitudes towards the influence of employment and education on maternal role. Avoiding punitive policies, using financial incentive policies to reduce people's financial burdens and being ensured of their implementation, and adopting incentives to support working women and elites (female students in higher education), would be among the effective fertility incentives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provoking questions about morality and civility, survival narratives which feature young adults often offer new visions of social organisation by positing extreme scenarios of isolation and breakdown. In Showtime’s Yellowjackets, the survivor-protagonists are framed as monstrous, but also as disruptive “others” with the potential to unravel regulatory systems. By resisting gendered mythologies, the survivor-protagonists are associated with varying expressions of autonomy and agency, and an amplified sense of difference and abjection. In considering the subversive potential of an all-female Lord of the Flies, this paper explores how the central characters of Yellowjackets gain power by accessing and enacting forms of “otherness” in violent and radical ways. It argues that by rejecting the norms used to relegate women to the margins, the Yellowjackets profoundly unsettle, even corrupt, traditional conceptions of femininity and idealised visions of girlhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The treatment of multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that predominantly affects women of reproductive age, has undergone considerable advancements. Nevertheless, their unique needs, particularly those related to motherhood, continue to be disregarded. This study aims to ascertain the needs of women diagnosed with MS about motherhood. Methods: Using the Noblit and Hare methods, meta-synthesis research was conducted on 10 qualitative studies. The relevant studies were obtained by conducting a comprehensive search using keywords in the PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science (ISI), and ProQuest databases without any time limitations until June 2023. The CASP checklist was used to assess the quality of the articles, while the technique of Brown and Clark (2006) was utilized for data synthesis. Results: Four key themes emerged from this meta-synthesis, highlighting the significance of a support system, psychoeducational counseling, knowledge promotion, and continuous, comprehensive, and unique care. Conclusion: Identifying the needs of women diagnosed with MS and addressing these needs concerning motherhood can enhance the quality of services rendered and enhance women's contentment with their choice to embark on motherhood. Furthermore, recognizing these needs during subsequent stages can be utilized in formulating tailored programs catering to this specific cohort of women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although motherhood plays a meaningful role in the formation of a woman’s identity, most studies have focused on the process of identity transformation in the transition to motherhood among non-disabled women; less is known about this process among women with physical disabilities who become mothers. Objective: The present study aimed to understand and describe the subjective experiences of Israeli women with lifelong physical disabilities in their motherhood journey from the perspective of the intersection of their motherhood and disability identities, and from the disability studies approach. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 Israeli mothers with visible lifelong physical disabilities who live in the community and raise their children. Results: Three themes emerged from the interviews: (1) the decision to become a mother: Coping with the disability identity for the first time; (2) The FIRST 3 years: Depending on others as limiting their motherhood identity; (3) after age three: Balancing the motherhood and disability identities. Conclusion: The transition to motherhood led to identity transformation among women with physical disabilities. Becoming a mother increased the tension between dependence and independence in the context of disability, which also influenced the intersection of their motherhood and disability identities and their wellbeing. Practitioners should provide emotional support to mothers with disabilities and help them embrace the positive aspects of each identity and strike a balance between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature about mothers and engaged fatherhood is expanding; however, current research focuses on breadwinner mothers living with stay-at-home fathers. Knowledge about the experiences of mothers who live with part-time working fathers is scarce. The current study focuses on Australian breadwinner mothers' experiences within such a family arrangement. Interviews with 15 mothers were analysed with Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Two themes emerged: (1) a recurrent contrast by mothers of their experiences at work and at home (the arrangement was described as contributing to their career, but as disrupting traditional mothering) and (2) a repeated comparison by mothers between themselves and their partners in relation to work and parenting (career was suggested as more important for participants, and fathers were suggested as being better suited for child-rearing). Both themes commonly and positively presented the family arrangement as well balanced. In their talk, participants balanced the family arrangement's flaws with its benefits. Furthermore, participants' positioning suggested an identification to an in-group which aligned to traditional motherhood while deviating from traditional feminine norms. As societal norms shift towards greater gender equality, this study helps increase awareness of the variety of contemporary mothering practices, by reporting experiences of mothers who adopt non-traditional mothering practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single motherhood has been a contentious subject in Britain. Yet there remains a lack of research which focuses on the complex experiences of global majority single mothers based in England. Drawing on interview data from two studies, this article addresses this gap in analysing the experiences of three often stigmatised and misunderstood groups – African Caribbean, Bangladeshi and Pakistani women experiencing single motherhood. In this paper, we examine how their lived realities are varyingly shaped by gender, class, ethnicity, religion and culture and the challenges and opportunities this presents. We identify similarities and differences within their experiences and understand these in relation to their intersectional identities and social positioning. We highlight the constraints and distinctive pressures these mothers face, as well as their agency and resourcefulness. We argue for greater inclusion of and attention to these populations in research on single motherhood and a collective valuing of mothers’ care work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Female physicians with children often work fewer hours and take fewer shifts due to additional family responsibilities. This can contribute to a gender pay gap in the medical profession. However, limited research in Japan has quantitatively examined the factors contributing to this gap. This study aims to address this gap in the literature. Methods: We analyzed the alumni data from a medical school in Hokkaido, Japan, for 260 physicians (198 males and 62 females). We used multivariable regression models to identify factors influencing earnings from medical practice, with a focus on gender, work schedules, parenthood, and any career interruptions related to childcare. Results: Our analysis revealed a 25.0% earnings gap between male and female physicians. Nearly all female physicians with children experienced career interruptions due to childcare, while this was uncommon for male physicians. When these childcare-related interruptions were factored in, the gender pay gap narrowed by 9.7%. After adjusting for work schedules and specialty choices, female physicians with children still earned 37.2% less than male physicians, while those without children earned only 4.4% less. This suggests that motherhood is a significant driver of the gender pay gap among physicians. Conclusions: These findings highlight the negative impact of motherhood on female physicians' earnings. This emphasizes the need for policy measures to mitigate the disadvantages faced by mothers in the medical profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the psychoanalytic exploration of motherhood in the film Qala (2022), analyzing the complex dynamics between the protagonist and her mother within a patriarchal framework. Topics include the portrayal of patriarchal motherhood as internalized through generational conflict, the influence of societal and familial expectations on women, and how the film critiques gendered norms within Indian society.

Safety behaviors attenuate the effects of exposure therapy. Less is known about how safety behaviors interact with parenting behaviors in relation to anxious children's fear responses. We examined if child safety behaviors interact with maternal punitive responses to explain unique variance in children's fear downregulation—defined as self-reported reduction of anxious arousal—during an anxiety-provoking task. Anxious children ages 8–12 (N = 105; 57.1% female; 61.9% racial minority) completed a diagnostic interview and structured speech task. Mothers reported how often they responded punitively to children's negative emotions. Independent observers coded child safety behaviors used during the speech, and a fear downregulation score was computed per child by subtracting post-speech fear scores from pre-speech fear scores. The interaction between child safety behaviors and maternal punitive responses predicted unique variance in subjective fear downregulation, such that increased use of safety behaviors during the speech task was associated with more difficulties downregulating subjective fear only among children whose mothers reported moderate and high use of punitive responses. Maternal punitive responses to children's negative emotions may promote child safety behavior use to avoid anxiety, resulting in greater difficulties downregulating fear. Our findings provide preliminary evidence for targeting child safety behaviors and parenting behaviors during child anxiety treatment. Highlights: Higher child safety behaviors were associated with more difficulty downregulating fear. Higher maternal punitive responses were associated with more difficulty downregulating fear. Maternal punitive responses interacted with safety behaviors to predict fear downregulation. Parental emotion socialization practices may be important treatment targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research on parent‒child relationships has focused more extensively on younger, school-aged children and adolescents, with mothers receiving more attention than fathers. In addition, there has been a greater focus on problematic parenting (e.g., helicopter parenting) and less research on supportive forms of parenting that can promote positive outcomes during emerging adulthood. The current study utilized the framework of self-determination theory to examine the association between positive parenting and well-being in a sample of emerging adults. Specifically, we examined the associations between positive maternal and paternal parenting approaches and emerging adults' basic psychological needs and well-being, with a focus on emerging adults of diverse ethnicities. Our primary hypotheses were that positive parenting would have significant: (a) direct associations with emerging adults' basic psychological needs and (b) indirect associations with emerging adults' well-being through their basic psychological needs. The participants were 1209 emerging adults aged 18–22 years (M = 19.27; SD = 1.53). The results revealed that parenting had significant positive direct effects on emerging adults' basic psychological needs and indirect associations with their well-being. These findings suggest that positive parenting continues to play an important role in emerging adulthood and highlight the need to work with emerging adults and their parents to establish strategies to support positive parenting that meet psychological needs during this time of life. Highlights: Mothers and fathers make significant and unique contributions to emerging adults' basic psychological needs. Among a diverse sample of emerging adults in North America, the satisfaction of emerging adults' basic psychological needs, including the positive contributions of both mothers and fathers, is important to their well-being and satisfaction with life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under processes of responsibilisation and individualisation in the 'risk society', as well as discourses of intensive motherhood, mothers are expected to make 'good' decisions regarding their children's health. Consequently, decision-making concerning childhood vaccination becomes an emotionally challenging process, as mothers strive to minimise risk while simultaneously promoting and protecting health. Existing research shows that a substantial number of parents of young children have concerns regarding childhood vaccination. This article aims to examine how mothers who identify as vaccine hesitant dynamically construct risk, emotion, and responsibility when accounting for their decisions about childhood vaccination. Based on 15 in-depth interviews conducted in Belgium, this article reports the findings of a discourse analysis. For the latter, we draw on positioning theory and Lupton's emotion-risk assemblage. The findings report three storylines that mothers discursively construct when discussing risk and responsibility in relation to childhood vaccination, namely a health promotion, a maternal protection and a critical healthcare consumer storyline. These storylines help to clarify the fluid and multidimensional nature of the mothers' accounts of vaccine hesitancy. Furthermore, the findings provide empirical evidence for the use of the emotion-risk assemblage, as we find that vaccine hesitant mothers construct risk in relation to feelings of safety, control, empowerment, anxiety, fear, worry, intuition, vulnerability, being overwhelmed, pity and contempt. Overall, the findings demonstrate that when accounting for their decisions concerning childhood vaccination, hesitant mothers assume responsibilities within a context of social and gendered vulnerability, which affects their constructions of risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of gender disparity in computer science and engineering has persisted despite longstanding efforts made in higher education. This study drew data from ten female computer science and engineering faculty in China and Italy to demonstrate the gender‐specific challenges they face. The researcher applied positioning theory to analyse female faculty's motherhood experiences. Findings suggest that the dual mother‐and‐educator role conflict in the intersectional space of work and family can be both a burden and an asset to female faculty. As a burden, the sociocultural expectations of the mother's role drive females to take on primary childcare responsibilities. It leads to significant barriers to female faculty's career advancements. As an asset, the study finds that the female faculty's motherhood experience allowed them to generate new insights into their identities as educators and teaching practices. Their learning from motherhood prompts them to reflect and gain an appreciation of their educator identity. Such realisation enables them to improve their teaching practices and interactions with students. The study offers policy recommendations for higher education institutions to support female faculty navigating the dual roles of mother and educator. Finally, the researcher discusses the limitations and directions for future study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]