Preparation for motherhood: a study of perinatal education in the Hutt Valley, New Zealand

Abstract

Pregnancy and parenthood have received much attention from social scientists concerned with socialisation or child development. While the perspectives of different disciplines offer interesting interpretations, they have repeatedly failed to explain the universal phenomenon from a woman's point of view. A more appropriate perspective is suggested and adopted in this thesis which is both sociological and feminist. Feminists have tended until recently to ignore the subject of maternity with its emphasis on a fundamental difference between men and women but a growing volume of research is contributing to the development of a sociology of childbirth. The focus of much recent work is on the attitudes, responses and expectations of women themselves and examines conflicting images of pregnancy (women versus the 'experts') in terms of social mythology - the 'myth of motherhood'. The myth of motherhood rests on three popular assertions: that children need their mothers; that mothers need their children; and that women need to be mothers. Modern biologists suggest that instincts merely provide the capacity for learning certain types of behaviour (the literature on imprinting may be cited as an example), yet in popular belief there is much emphasis on the 'maternal instinct' and the 'naturalness' of maternity as an ambition for women. These notions, whether supported by 'scientific' evidence or not, have a pervasive influence on women's perceptions of their world and their self-image. Not surprisingly, women are often confused when they find that breastfeeding is not established solely by instinct and that health professionals consider it necessary for women to be taught how to give birth and how to care for their children. Formal antenatal education programmes have become a regular feature of New Zealand antenatal clinics and are also a concern of non-statutory agencies such as the Federation of NZ Parents Centres Inc. The importance of such programmes is stressed for a variety of reasons by the nursing and medical professions which tend to regard women who fail to participate in such formal preparation as defaulters, irresponsible mothers who are not 'doing the best' for their child. This thesis is concerned with both formal and informal preparation for motherhood in New Zealand and gives particular attention to the following areas: 1) women's perceptions of formal perinatal education programmes and the relative importance of formal and informal sources of information; 2) the role of family, friends and others as sources of support and advice before and after delivery; 3) the baby's father's participation in formal preparation, labour and delivery; 4) women's expectations of motherhood. The fieldwork upon which this thesis is based consists of a survey of 105 primiparae in a New Zealand maternity unit five days after delivery. Some of the survey's findings challenge some current assumptions of motherhood. Women are shown to be more rational in their behaviour than they are often given credit for. While some women are revealed as more vulnerable than other groups, e.g. the single mother and the Pacific Islander, who may lack financial and social support and under-utilise maternity services, such vulnerability is not regarded necessarily as the fault of the individual who fails to prepare for childbirth or who fails to cope with the strains and conflicts of a new role. Rather, it is seen as the result of societal pressures which perpetuate myths about motherhood.