Practicing maternal virtues prematurely: The phenomenology of maternal identity in medically high-risk pregnancy

ABSTRACT

In this study, we examine the phenomenology of maternal identity development among U.S. women hospitalized with medically high-risk pregnancies (MHRP). We conducted 16 in-depth interviews with women and found that they drew on culturally normative notions of maternal nurture, worry, and sacrifice to construct maternal identity in the context of MHRP. Based on our findings, we suggest that MHRP shape women's sense of connection to and distinctive cognitive representations of their fetus. We conclude that hospitalization simultaneously promotes and challenges women's early maternal identifications.

Notes

1. Here, we use the construction fetus/baby to reflect health providers' and mothers' differing typical language for the entity in the uterus.

2. All names of participants have been changed.