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Abstract
The aim of this study was to explore how women with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) manage their daily lives after becoming mothers and if they experienced barriers in society. Five women were interviewed, aged 25–40 years, who had incurred a traumatic SCI two to twenty years previous to their first child being born. All the participants expressed a wish to carry out infant care tasks and to take part in their children's activities. The participants used welfare arrangements to manage certain tasks. They faced challenges in the form of physical barriers in their surroundings, as well as various degrees of struggle related to social services. Statements from five Norwegian women with SCI point to unique practical and emotional experiences of becoming mothers. Their reports also elucidate the lack of knowledge among professionals related to motherhood and SCI.
Acknowledgements
The author wants to thank the study participants for sharing their experiences, Yvonne Dolonen for valuable comments related to being a mother with SCI, and Ingeborg Lidahl and Anne-Kristine Schanke for their constant support and extensive help with this article. Thanks also to Sunnaas Rehabilitation Hospital – Clinic for SCI and Multitrauma, and my colleagues for all their support, and to Elisabeth Fransson who supervised the study. The Norwegian Directorate of Health funded the work of this article.
Notes
1. For more information, please see www.nav.no.
2. The study was conducted as a part of the master programme at University of Oslo, Section for Health Science. The master thesis was published in Norwegian in DUO (digital publishing at UiO) in 2009. Aune, G. 2009. English title: ‘To focus on possibilities. Women with spinal cord injury share their stories as mothers living with young children.’