Motherhood is central to our lives. Despite this it became the subject of scientific research only in the last few decades. First it was looked at from a purely medical perspective, but research has been upgraded to take into consideration the psychological side of motherhood.
In the master’s thesis we dealt with the question of how to support mothers to be fulfilled in their motherhood and to establish a genuine attachment to the new-born baby, as this is a key element of its development. We found a pressing need for research and the creation of new practices to raise awareness of mothers and fathers regarding factors that are most important for a relationship between parents and their baby. The main factors are the knowledge of the mother that she can take care of the baby and a good relationship between husband and wife. We would like to see development of clinical and sub-clinical practices for supporting mothers, acquiring partnership skills and the raising of awareness of society as a whole.
In the empirical part of the research, we used a phenomenological research method. We interviewed nine participants, mothers, whose youngest child was no more than three years old. We used a half-structured questionnaire, with the help of which they told us about the experience of motherhood: conception, pregnancy, birth, after birth and the time spent in the maternity ward. We wanted to know their first experiences of breastfeeding and of building an emotional bond with the new-born. We also asked about how they felt when they left the maternity ward, at the time of paternity leave and the period when husbands went back to work and they were alone with the baby most of the time. We were interested in the development of breastfeeding and how they handled practical and emotional challenges, but also in their relationship with their husband or partner and possible psychological distress. We also dealt with contacts with the extended family and broader social environment. At the end we wanted to know about how they dealt with the end of maternity leave, putting the child in kindergarten and going back to work.
Our findings show mothers mostly had a positive experience of early motherhood, but they also reported practical and psychological distress. Our survey showed they need functional and emotional support, which they got from husbands or partners. For a while most of the participants received help from family members (mothers, fathers, mothers in law, grandmothers and grandfathers). A small part didn’t need this help, but we also interviewed a mother, who needed it, but didn’t have it. Psychologically we found emotional closeness of husband or partner helps the mother in overcoming normal psychological distress, which is part of the process. We also found confirmation that mothers are sometimes too patient and find it hard to express their distress, so it remains unresolved. So we ask ourselves, how we can meet them half way.
In Slovenia legally and medically mothers are well taken care of, but we noticed a need for development in the psychological field. Early motherhood is for women a time of great change (some scientists compare it to the experience of adolescence) and they need support and understanding even when they don’t quite understand why. One of the participants said: “I didn’t know I needed help. My mother knew that better than me.” A mother is so occupied with caring for the baby, she forgets her own needs. So we need to help them with informal and systemic solutions.
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