Learning to be a normal mother: empowerment and pedagogy in postpartum classes.

Full Abstract

This qualitative study, which was conducted in the summer of 1992, presents the findings of how six first-time mothers and two public health nurses experienced pedagogical practices within postpartum classes offered by two public health units in Ontario, Canada. How concerns and aspirations of new mothers were constructed and mediated in the postpartum class are analyzed using concepts from poststructuralist and feminist methodologies. This study goes beyond an analysis of individual teaching and learning styles and discusses how social structures of isolation, investment in a medical discourse, and processes of normalization construct an individual's experiences and practices of mothering, which in turn influence pedagogical practices in postpartum classes. Issues of empowerment, language, support, and knowledge exchange are discussed.

Author information

Author/s: Aston, Megan L (ML);

Affiliation: Dalhousie School of Nursing, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. megan.aston(-atsign-)dal.ca

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Public health nursing (Boston, Mass.) (Public Health Nurs), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: -2002 Jul-Aug; vol 19 (issue 4) : pp 284-93

Dates: Created 2002/06/19; Completed 2002/10/29; Revised 2007/11/15;

PMID: 12071902, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: 18 Feb 2009 00:00:00)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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