Locating the foetal subject: Uncertain entities and foetal viability in accounts of first-time pregnancy

Ross, Emily

doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2016.07.003

Cited by 5 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…In another study, some women also perceived drinking during breastfeeding as a more serious issue than during pregnancy (Martinelli et al, 2021). Confirming work on women's variable concepts of the (un)born child (Lupton, 2013b;Ross, 2016;Schmied & Lupton, 2001), our findings show that individuation is a key element shaping women's understanding of risk and sense of maternal responsibility.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

“…Moreover, qualitative studies examining people's understandings of health risks have privileged cross-sectional research designs. Among qualitative longitudinal studies about mothers' experiences (e.g., Jarvie, 2016;Ross, 2016;Schmied & Lupton, 2001), to our knowledge, none have focussed on the issue of alcohol consumption. Finally, research on women's views on drinking during the lactation period is mostly non-existent, with few exceptions (Gouilhers et al, 2021;Giglia & Binns, 2007).…”

Section: Risk Perception As a Social Process Over Timementioning

confidence: 99%

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Uncertainty, manageability and individuation: A longitudinal qualitative study of women's conceptualisations of risk from pregnancy to breastfeeding—the case of alcohol consumption

Hammer

Gouilhers

Radu

et al. 2022

SSM - Qualitative Research in Health

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Section: Risk Perception As a Social Process Over Timementioning

confidence: 99%

Uncertainty, manageability and individuation: A longitudinal qualitative study of women's conceptualisations of risk from pregnancy to breastfeeding—the case of alcohol consumption

Hammer

Gouilhers

Radu

et al. 2022

SSM - Qualitative Research in Health

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“…This result has been reported before and suggests that alcohol consumption is higher in this stage than after pregnancy is confirmed [ 1 ]. In the second stage, when the pregnancy is recognised but not yet publicly known, all women reduce their alcohol consumption significantly, but some consume very small amounts of alcohol in certain situations in order not to reveal the secret of the pregnancy [ 38 , 46 , 47 ]. If the pregnancy is known, women develop different strategies around abstinence during the third stage, only few of them allowing themselves some small amounts of alcohol linked to special events.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite this, abstinence or strong alcohol reduction are largely envisioned by women as ideal strategies of dealing with alcohol risk during pregnancy, with feelings of guilt and anxiety over alcohol consumption during pregnancy often being concomitant to these exceptions [ 36 ]. While other longitudinal qualitative studies analysing the development of health risk perception over time exist [ 37 , 38 ], to our knowledge, there are no studies that have examined women’s perceptions of the risk of alcohol consumption during the transition from pregnancy to breastfeeding. To frame this approach, we refer to Levy [ 39 ], who defines the concept of “transition” as a period of change in the individual life course perspective.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Women’s views on moderate and low alcohol consumption: stages of the subjective transition from pregnancy to postpartum

Pehlke-Milde

Radu

Gouilhers

et al. 2022

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth

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Background Alcohol consumption during pregnancy and breastfeeding is associated with a risk for the child’s healthy development. Nevertheless, about 16 to 25% of all women in the European region, including Switzerland, consume alcohol during pregnancy and probably even more during breastfeeding. Little is known about how women perceive this risk and how risk perception changes during the transition to motherhood. The present study aims to explore the subjective transition from the woman’s perspective, focusing on perceptions of alcohol as a risk, changes in alcohol consumption in daily life and experienced support from health professionals in this period. Methods The longitudinal qualitative, semi-structured interview study was jointly designed and conducted by health sociologists and midwifery researchers. Using the theoretical framework of sociocultural risk and life course transition, we interviewed 46 women from the French and German speaking part of Switzerland during pregnancy and until six months after birth. Results In our study, we found that pregnant and breastfeeding women perceive alcohol consumption as a risk to the health of the child. Abstinence is sought especially during pregnancy, but this does not preclude occasional and low-level consumption according to some women. Alcohol consumption and risk perception change during the transition to motherhood. We identified five stages that characterise this transition in terms of alcohol consumption and risk perception. From the women’s perspective, there was a lack of counselling from health professionals, and the women expressed a desire for respectful and more individualised counselling. Conclusion Many women express a need for guidance and counselling by health care professionals at some stages of the transition to motherhood. The stages identified can be used as pointers to address the subject of alcohol consumption in professional practice. The stage around conception and early pregnancy should be taken more into account, as women experience themselves as particularly vulnerable during this time. Low-threshold counselling services should be therefore offered to women before or in the stage around conception and be continued until the end of the breastfeeding period.

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“…Related to this, the stage of gestation at which women encounter the pregnancy test is significant to how women (are able to) engage with the device. In early pregnancy, uncertainties regarding embodied experience, and the viability of the foetal entity, are particularly pronounced, with these shifting in complex ways as pregnancy progresses (Ross, 2016). The interviewees featured above engaged with pregnancy tests in the very early weeks of gestation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Provisionally pregnant: uncertainty and interpretive work in accounts of home pregnancy testing

Ross

2017

Health (London)

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Upon their availability for purchase in the 1970s, home pregnancy testing devices were hailed as a 'revolution' for women's reproductive rights. Some authors, however, have described these technologies as further enabling the medicalisation of pregnancy and as contributing to the devaluing of women's embodied knowledge. The home pregnancy test is one of many technological devices encountered by women experiencing pregnancy in the United Kingdom today. Existing literature has described how engagement with medical technologies during pregnancy might address uncertainties experienced at this time, providing women with reassurance and alleviating anxieties. Drawing on interviews with women living in Scotland, this article explores accounts of testing for a first pregnancy, and women's descriptions of the impacts of home pregnancy testing upon experiences of early gestation. Participants engaged with pregnancy tests in varying ways, with uses shaping and shaped by their experiences of early pregnancy more broadly. Particular technical characteristics of the home pregnancy test led many participants to question their interpretation of a positive result, as well as the accuracy of the test itself. Rather than addressing the unknowns of early gestation by confirming a suspected pregnancy, a positive result could thus exacerbate uncertainty. Through participants' accounts, this article shows how uncertainty is lived out by users of mundane techno-medical artefacts and sheds new light on women's experiences of the first trimester of pregnancy.

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Locating the foetal subject: Uncertain entities and foetal viability in accounts of first-time pregnancy

Cited by 5 publications

References 49 publications

Uncertainty, manageability and individuation: A longitudinal qualitative study of women's conceptualisations of risk from pregnancy to breastfeeding—the case of alcohol consumption

Uncertainty, manageability and individuation: A longitudinal qualitative study of women's conceptualisations of risk from pregnancy to breastfeeding—the case of alcohol consumption

Women’s views on moderate and low alcohol consumption: stages of the subjective transition from pregnancy to postpartum

Provisionally pregnant: uncertainty and interpretive work in accounts of home pregnancy testing

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