Staying Connected While Nurturing an Infant: A Challenge of New Motherhood*

Abstract

Fifteen at-risk new mothers participating in a volunteer home-visiting program were interviewed about their experiences with these home-visitors and their relationships with close family and friends after their babies were born. Results of the qualitative analysis, viewed through the lens of Relational Cultural Theory (RCT), detail the social isolation and personal disconnection that they experienced. Their narratives also provide insights about the volunteersÕ use of techniques-such as validation, affirmation, consistency, and emotional and instrumental aid-to enhance the mothersÕ self-confidence in caring for their babies, to reduce painful feelings, and to increase interpersonal connections. Recommendations are included for working with couples anticipating a new baby.

Mothers’ experiences in the Nurse-Family Partnership program: a qualitative case study

“…Overall, the findings suggest that the mothers’ experiences in the NFP program were very positive and highlight the critical importance of the nurse-client relationship. Several of our findings are similar to those reported in previous studies examining mothers’ perspectives on home visiting in general such as the importance mothers placed on feeling respected [12,15,21,31] and not patronized or judged by their home visitors [32], appreciating the support they received from [12,15,23,31]the home visitor [14,15,33] and the flexibility of program delivery [31,33]. In addition some of our findings are similar to those reported in previous studies specifically exploring mothers’ experiences with nurse home visiting.…”

The Role of Optimism in Health-Promoting Behaviors in New Primiparous Mothers

“…New mothers have reported experiencing heightened stress immediately following the birth of their child (Levy-Shiff, Dimitrovsky, Shulman, & Har-Even, 1998), extreme tiredness or exhaustion (Brown & Lumley, 2000), and feelings of isolation, loneliness, and disconnection (Paris & Dubus, 2005). Additional competing priorities may include learning the maternal role, experiencing physical changes, and learning how to care for their own needs (Chen et al, 2007;Warren, 2005).…”

Motherhood experience in different groups

“…İlk gebeliğini yaşayan primiparlar için anne olma süreci multipardan farklı olabilmektedir. Primiparlar doğu-mu takiben ağır stres yükü deneyimlemekte, aşırı yorgunluk, izolasyon, yalnızlık hissetmekte ve bağların bozulması sürecini yaşamaktadırlar (10). Ngai ve arkadaşlarının (25) Çin'de yaşayan 26 primipar kadının annelik rol deneyimini etkileyen faktörleri incelemek için yaptıkları çalışmada, annenin bebek bakımı hakkında kişisel bilgisi ve deneyimi, maternal rolde yeterliliği etkileyen majör faktör olarak görülmüştür.…”

“…Anneliğe geçiş, ilk gebeliğini yaşayan kadınlarda, adölesan gebelerde, ileri yaş gebelerde ve konjenital anomalili bebeğe DOI: 10.5455/musbed.20150831014409 sahip olan gebelerde farklı şekillerde olabilmektedir (8). Primipar kadınlar doğumu takiben ağır stres yükü, yorgunluk, sosyal izolasyon, yalnızlık ve çevre ile ilişkilerinde değişiklik yaşarken, gelişimsel dönemdeki adölesanların anneliğe geçiş deneyimleri fiziksel ve psikolojik zorlukları beraberinde getirebilmektedir (9,10). Çoğunlukla olumsuz gebelik sonuçlarını beraberinde getiren ileri yaş gebeliklerde prenatal bağlanma düzeyleri ile ilgili çelişkili sonuç-lar bulunmaktadır (3,(11)(12)(13).…”