Focusing dircctl>' on information gained from mothers" perspectives, this study examines how moth... more Focusing dircctl>' on information gained from mothers" perspectives, this study examines how mothering affects women's lives. Twent>'-seven mothers participated in four focus groups and of these women nine participated in individual interviews. The women were all Caucasian, married, middle-class, and had at least one child under age 5. The following nine themes emerged from the data; I) "maternal" sacrifice, 2) bearing the emotional labor of caring for children, 3) pressures/expectations of mothering, 4) mothers" connections to their children, 5) mother/father differences in parenting and the influence of the marital relationship, 6) issues of loss surrounding motherhood, 7) use of strong language, 8) value of mothering, and 9) ways this research will benefit others. This research makes an important contribution to our understanding of women's lives by allowing mothers" voices to be heard: from this research we can begin to understand what t>pes of resources and support will best assist women in their mothering roles. In order to increase the transfcrabilit\' of the findings, future research needs to focus on exploring similar issues with diverse groups of mothers. ' In qualitative research, the researcher plays an active role in the data collection process, thus becoming part of the research. For this reason, first person dialogue will be used throughout this dissenation. asked of any human being in any other role in life, yet it is expected of women in their relationships with young children" (p. 160). Other studies illuminate women's experiences as mothers, such as Kaplan's (1992) study of a homogeneous group of 12 upper-class mothers of toddlers. In her study, all of the women were Caucasian, married, college-educated, and living in New York. All of the women were first time mothers, not pregnant with a second child. Six were mothers of boys and six were mothers of girls. Kaplan was interested in "how to make meaning of motherhood" (p. 3). She used a case study approach v\ith a mix of structured interviews followed by a second meeting with participants using standardized measures and a semi-structured interview format. Her findings suggested that the women in the study "did not present themselves in terms of the kind of close connection to their mothers and other women that theory would expect" (p. 203). Kaplan concluded that because of these mothers' social positions, they did not identify vsith the groups of parents who are focused on the lack of social supports for families; rather they reinforced maternal isolation, believing that a mother is "to take care of herself as well as her child with no help from spouses, friends, or social institutions" (p. 205). While Kaplan acknowledges the difficulties in generalizing her findings, she suggests that ftirther research would build on her study; she writes, "It is also hoped that questions of mothers" own images of motherhood will be considered worthy of further attention" (p. 205). Bergum (1989) who followed six women, all first-time mothers comparable on age, background, and financial status, from mid-pregnancy to a number of months following the child's birth suggests that in order to "come to a deeper understanding of women's transformative experiences of being mothers" (p. 15) her study should be extended by using an approach similar to hers, but conducted with other types of mothers. Bergum focused on various st^es of the experience of motherhood. These areas included the decision to have a baby, the period of pregnanc>', the childbirth experience, becoming responsible for a dependent being, and then "living with a child on one s mind. ' Her primary research question was ""How does a woman come to understand herself as a 13 mother?" and overall. "What is the nature of the transformation of woman to mother?" (p. 7). She considered not only the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional aspects of becoming and being a mother but also the spiritual aspects of this experience. Through the dialogue of several mothers' stories, she highlights various themes that emerged and explores the broader issues these themes seem to signify-. She offers several examples, which show how outsiders such as doctors and other childbirth experts undermine the mother's control and responsibilit\' tied with the birth experience. She wTites The responsibility of becoming a mother belongs to women. All procedures, techniques, and interventions, to the woman or child, need to consider and support the acceptance of responsibilitN' on the part of the mother, (p. 156) Related to mothers' knowledge and responsibility, Sara Ruddick (1989) emphasizes the discourse that develops through mothers' thinking. She contends that mothers develop a ''maternal" way of thinking through their daily experiences in caring for their children. She writes Dail>'. mothers think out strategies of protection, nurturance, and training. Frequently conflicts between strategies or between fundamental demands provoke mothers to think about the meaning and relative weight of preservation, growth, and acceptability. In quieter moments, mothers reflect on their practice as a whole...maternal thinking is no rarity. Maternal work itself demands that mothers think; out of this need for thoughtfiilness, a distinctive discipline emerges, (p. 24) Ruddick defines a practice as a specific form of reasoning with concepts defined by shared aims and rules, having shared language and actions, and writes, "[It is] wnthin a practice that thinkers judge which questions are sensible, which answers are appropriate to them, and which criteria distinguish beuvecn better and worse answers" (p. 16). She also writes, "To be a 'mother' is to take upon oneself the responsibilitN' of childcare, making its work a regular and substantial part of one's working life" (p. 17). Being a mother, or maternal work, she contends constitutes a specialized discipline characterized by a specialized way of thinking. According to Ruddick, three primary demands constitute maternal work-the preservation of children's lives through meeting their basic needs, fostering their growth and development, and following socially acceptable guidelines defined by
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