‘I can’t say we focus on the mom’: perceptions of public leisure service providers towards pregnant and postpartum leisure

ABSTRACT

While public leisure services are meant to be inclusive and accessible, few researchers have unpacked what public leisure service providers (PLSPs) perceive as socially inclusive leisure services for pregnant or postpartum women. Therefore, we used this study to explore how PLSPs in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, perceived the needs of pregnant and postpartum women when creating public leisure programs and services. We interviewed 14 PLSPs to gather an in-depth understanding of their perceptions. Our findings demonstrated how PLSPs approached community programming for pregnant and postpartum women by prioritizing specific life stages for programming, attempting inclusion through leisure facilities, and listening to select stakeholders and citizens for program feedback. PLSPs perceptions of pregnant and postpartum women led to generalizations about their needs, a lack of inclusive facilities, and impressions influenced by assumptions, instincts, and preconceived notions about citizens absent from public programs.

Résumé

Alors que les services de loisirs publics sont censés être inclusifs et accessibles, peu de recherches ont analysé ce que les prestataires de services de loisirs publics (PSLP) perçoivent comme des services de loisirs socialement inclusifs pour les femmes enceintes ou en post-partum Par conséquent, nous avons mené cette étude pour explorer la façon dont les PSLP de Montréal (Québec, Canada) percevaient les besoins des femmes enceintes et des femmes en post-partum lorsqu’ils élaboraient des programmes et des services de loisirs publics. Nous avons interrogé 14 PSLP afin de comprendre en profondeur leurs perceptions. Nos résultats ont montré comment les PSLP ont abordé la programmation communautaire pour les femmes enceintes et les femmes en post-partum en donnant la priorité à des étapes précises de la vie, en visant l’inclusion par le biais d’installations récréatives, et en écoutant certains intervenants et citoyens pour obtenir des commentaires sur les programmes. Les perceptions des PSLP à l’égard des femmes enceintes et des femmes en post-partum ont conduit à des généralisations sur leurs besoins, à un manque d’installations inclusives et à des impressions influencées par des suppositions, des instincts et des notions préconçues sur les citoyens absents des programmes publics.

KEYWORDS:

• Community leisure
• motherhood
• perceptions
• social inclusion

Mots-clés:

• Loisirs communautaires
• maternité,
• perceptions
• inclusion sociale
• femmes

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank (anonymized), (anonymized), and (anonymized) for their support with this project, and the PLSPs who dedicate their time to improving their field and bettering leisure services for pregnant and postpartum women.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Talia Ritondo

Talia Ritondo is a second-year PhD student in Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa where she is examining the nexus of pregnancy, safe sport, and human rights. Talia completed her Master of Arts in Recreation and Leisure Studies at Brock University. Her thesis critically examined postnatal women’s community team sport participation. During the year between her MA and PhD, she was Brock’s Gender & Sexual Violence Education Coordinator. As a culmination of her experiences, her research interests include gender, community sport and elite sport, human rights, intersectionality, and motherhood. For her leisure, Talia plays competitive beach volleyball and enjoys weightlifting, baking, video games, and board games.

Shannon Hebblethwaite

Shannon Hebblethwaite is a Professor in the Department of Applied Human Sciences at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. Shannon’s research centres around the complexities and nuances of the experience of leisure for marginalized peoples, including older people, first-time mothers, and persons living with disabilities. More specifically, her research explores the social and political systems and institutions that shape, facilitate, and hinder inclusion and social engagement, specifically in the contexts of family relationships, digital technologies, social policy, and interage (intergenerational) relations. Taking a critical and community-engaged approach, her work disrupts traditional narratives and discourses, challenges ageist assumptions, and encourages a more intersectional approach to understanding the impact that leisure has on wellbeing.