The transition into parenthood

Abstract

This thesis, based on a review of the New Zealand and key overseas literature, is a descriptive and exploratory study of the transition into parenthood as experienced by pakeha New Zealand couples who are biological parents. It includes a small number of informal interviews of couples who had recently had their first child. The framework is sociological and this study focusses on the impact of the first child on the parents as individuals and as a couple, during the first year after the birth. Approaches taken in the literature are discussed, especially the developmental conceptual framework. The particular features of this transition are described, as are the changes required in adjusting to this new role. The impact of the first child on the various aspects of the marital relationship is also examined. How the transition is affected by the baby being handicapped or premature is discussed. The focus then shifts to the psychopathology relating to the adjustment to parenthood. The next section deals with the range of variables which affect the process of adjustment, and in particular, those seen as more crucial in determining the ease or difficulty of this transition. There is then a brief discussion of the motherhood myth as it relates to the exercising of parental roles. The following section examines the implications of the process of adjusting to parenthood for society generally. This includes the areas of child abuse, marital stress and/or breakdown, and emotional disorders precipitated by the birth of the first child, control over fertility, formal preparation for parenthood and hospital and obstetric procedures. Social work as it relates to the transition into parenthood is discussed and suggestions made as to how social workers might better help people adjust more easily to the role of parent. Finally, this thesis points out where further research is needed into the area of adjustment to parenthood. The birth of the first child requires considerable adjustment and is for some a time of crisis, especially in cases of handicap or prematurity. Individuals must reorganise their lives, and marriages must be able to withstand a basic change in dynamics. It is an adjustment requiring maturity and adaptability in both parents. While most people do not experience anything very serious, emotional disorders such as postnatal depression or the more extreme reaction of puerperal psychosis can occur as a result of the birth. Similarly, wife and child abuse and marriage difficulties can result. The transition into parenthood has the potential to either precipitate individual emotional disorders or marital disturbances, or to strengthen the resources of both individuals and couples to cope with later life transitions or crises.