Seeing Red: A Grounded Theory Study of Women’s Anger after Childbirth

Abstract

Persistent intense anger is indicative of postpartum distress, yet maternal anger has been little explored after childbirth. Using grounded theory, we explained how and why mothers develop intense anger after childbirth and the actions they take to manage their anger. Twenty mothers of healthy singleton infants described their experiences of anger during the first two postpartum years. Mothers indicated they became angry when they had violated expectations, compromised needs, and felt on edge (e.g., exhausted, stressed, and resentful), particularly around infants’ sleep. Mothers described suppressing and/or expressing anger with outcomes such as conflict and recruiting support. Receiving support from partners, family, and others helped mothers manage their anger, with more positive outcomes. Women should be screened for intense anger, maternal-infant sleep problems, and adequacy of social supports after childbirth. Maternal anger can be reduced by changing expectations and helping mothers meet their needs through social and structural supports.

The Efficacy of a Resilience-Enhancement Program for Mothers Based on Emotion Regulation: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Japan

“…Despite this challenge, it is noteworthy that they recognized the compassion from their partners more. Other studies describe that the partner relationship plays a key role in the situational factors related to parental stress [ 97 ], and that mothers’ perception of their husband’s support is a major influence on their parenting stress and that the anger-hostility factor stems partially from a lack of partner support [ 98 ]. The empathetic attitude from the husbands in the present study can be viewed as emotional support, and it is possible that anger control was maintained 2 months later because of greater recognition of that emotional support.…”