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Most sleep deprivation studies show increased body mass, increased hypertension, increased Type 2 Diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular issues and even death. There is a paucity of research in sleeping patterns of first time Caucasian mothers of babies between six and twelve months old in South Africa. The objective was to determine the impact of long-term partial sleep deprivation on metabolism and mood in these mothers. A qualitative and quantitative study using a small sample of thirty one mothers was undertaken. Interviews assessed age, education, anthropometric data, family history, medication use, and baby sleeping habits. Participants were also asked to complete the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Becks Depression Inventory II (BDI-II)to assess the mothers sleep quality and depressive state. Medication use significantly decreased sleep quality. Oral contraceptive use and depression (BDI-II score 14-40) were associated with a significantly higher PSQI score and significantly decreased number of hours sleep and sleep efficiency. Oral contraceptive users were significantly more depressed. The six mothers on antidepressants had significantly higher PSQI scores than those not on antidepressants, but hours of sleep and sleep efficiency were not significantly different. This study showed that sleep deprivation did not impact mothers anthropometry. Interestingly medication use affected sleep quality more than baby arousals.

A single mother is defined as a mother with one or more children, who is neither married nor living with a partner. The second demographic transition characterized by the decline of marital fertility and an increase in non-marital childbearing has led to increased numbers of single mothers in western countries (Heuveline, Timberlake and Furstenberg, 2003). A recent study of families living in greater Johannesburg and Soweto conducted by the centre for Reproductive health at Witwatersrand University reports an increase of single mothers in families of all racial groups in South Africa (Keeton, 2004). Single mothers are associated with higher levels of poverty and dependence on welfare (Fitzgerald and Ribar, 2004), which may affect the wellbeing of their children. The study introduces two theories, modernization and rationale choice theory that could be used to explain the high incidence of single mothers in South Africa. The modernization theory predicts that the increase in out-of-wedlock births is a result of modernization and westernization. On the other hand, proponents of the rational choice theory argue that premarital pregnancies are a rational decision to prove fecundity and facilitate marriage. Some authors have found an association between the rational choice theory and dependence theory, according to which poor young women exchange sexual favours for gifts to obtain financial support outside marriage (Al-Azar, 1999). While both theories inform the study and contribute to the conceptual framework, the rational choice theory is argued to be the more appropriate to explain the increase in number of single mothers in South Africa. The 2002 General Household Survey (GHS) is used to obtain the count of single mothers and a profile of their characteristics. Other surveys questionnaires have been inspected to find out whether it is possible to measure the number of single mothers in the country. The author found that, with the exception of the 1998 Demographic Household Survey (DHS), the 1996 census and one of the October household surveys (OHS), it is not possible to provide an accurate count of single mothers using South Africa's national surveys. Reasons for this limitation are provided in the paper. This study focuses on women aged between 18 and 49 years. To obtain the count of single mothers, it was first established whether a woman was a mother of a child younger than 18 years who lives with her. The next step was to establish the marital status of the woman and to find out if she had a partner living with her. In this study it is important to distinguish between de jure and de facto single mothers. A de jure single mother living with her child(ren), is unmarried and does not have a partner. De jure single mothers are compared to other types of mothers including married mothers with father present (partnered mothers), married mothers with father absent (de facto single mothers), mothers with children older than 18 years or mothers not staying with their children (other mothers) and women who do not have children (childless women). Using the 2002 GHS the paper provides the count and some key characteristics of single mothers, including social and economic characteristics of education level and employment status. These characteristics of single mothers and women are profiled at individual and household level. The results of the analysis show that the prevalence of single mothers in South Africa is high in relation to other sub-Saharan African countries. The study supports other research that there is no significant difference between marital and non-marital fertility because the proportion of de jure single mothers is almost similar to the proportion of married mothers with father present (partnered mothers). This study finds that single mothers occur in higher proportions among African/black and coloured populations and are on average younger than 25 years of age. Reasons suggested for the high incidence of single mothers include teenage pregnancy, poverty and unemployment. The groups most affected by poverty and unemployment are African/blacks and coloureds. When comparing socio-economic characteristics of de jure single mothers and other types of mothers -for instance partnered, de facto single mothers and childless women - the study findings indicate that de jure single mothers are poorer than married mothers for most of the indicators. However, there is also a group of married mothers where the father is absent (de facto single mothers) who also show poor statistics compared to partnered mothers. Partnered mothers are better off in most all the indicators used in this study. A key limitation of this study is that it is cross sectional and therefore does not account for rapid changes in distribution and characteristics of mothers. This makes it somewhat difficult to establish whether models of the modernization or rational choice can explain the high incidence of single mothers. The paper concludes with recommendations and a discussion on some of the important implications that the relatively high proportion of single mothers has for poverty levels of women in South Africa and the effect this might have on their children. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

This research project looks at the experiences of a group of pregnant teenagers in a low socio-economic area. Teenage sexuality and pregnancy has been the subject of substantial research in South Africa and the rest of the world as it is a global issue. The challenge that pregnant teenagers face are to manage schooling, pregnancy and mothering rather than dropping out of school. This study was conducted using a qualitative research method through semi-structured interviews. The participants consisted of fourteen teenagers ranging from fifteen to eighteen years of age. The teenagers were either pregnant or had delivered their babies. They attended the local high school with the exception of one participant who had dropped out of school. I interviewed one Life Orientation educator from the local high school and one ante natal nursing sister from the local municipal clinic. Teenage pregnancy produced gender inequalities as the female adolescent is unable to attend school whilst recuperating from the birth of the child; the male continues attending school regardless of fathering the child. Culturally it was inappropriate to receive sex education at home so information was gained within the formal setting of Life Orientation classes, peers or social media. Due to varying degrees of familial support, the teenagers were able to return to school after the birth of their babies. The level of family support ranged from taking over full responsibility of the child so the adolescent continued with her former life to the teenager having to care for the child when returning from school and only being able to complete homework tasks once the baby was asleep. Agency was most apparent in the decision of abortion. The teenagers would not be forced into the procedure if it was not the option of their choice despite pressure from boyfriends and family. Teenagers also showed agency in ending relationships with their partners if the partner was dating other girls concurrently. However, they did not use agency in the negotiation of condom use despite stating that they were in equal relationships with their boyfriends. This indicates how structures may constrain agency, specifically structures that are located in gendered inequalities. The teenagers were knowledgeable about the facts of condom use as protection against pregnancy and disease but these facts were not put into practice. Discourses suggest female teenagers’ fear of being rejected by their partner through the insistence of condom use and male domination over the female.

This study aimed to investigate teenage mothers’ experiences of motherhood and their internal representations of their infants and the relationship between them. In addition, this study aimed to investigate whether there was a connection between teenage mothers’ experiences of parenting and their internal representations of their infants and the relationship between them. Through the use of semi-structured interviews, adapted from the Parent Development Interview and the Working Model of the Child Interview, four teenage mothers from Alexandra were interviewed. The data collected from these interviews was analysed using narrative analysis through the hermeneutic lens of psychoanalytic attachment theory. From the analysis, this study found that teenage mother’s experiences of motherhood were marked by challenge. The two main challenges faced by these young mothers were the tension they experienced between their identities as teenagers and their identities as mothers, and their struggle to provide for their infants and feel like good enough mothers. In addition, this study found that teenage mother’s internal representations of their infants included a representation of both the good baby and the bad baby, but, with the exception of one mother, their representations tended to remain split and the mothers seemed defended against their representations of the bad baby. In terms of their representations of the relationship between them, this study found that these teenage mothers’ representations of their relationship with their infants was lacking. These representations either consisted of a superficial representation of a good relationship between mother and infant, or no relationship at all. Finally, this study found that teenage mother’s experiences of motherhood and their internal representations of their infants and the relationship between them were connected. A number of factors that were found to influence both their experiences and their internal representations include their own mental states, their memoires of their own childhood and their representations of their caregivers, as well as the levels of social support they received. The study therefore concluded that teenage mothers’ experiences of motherhood and their internal representations of their infants and the relationship between them were connected, however further research is required to establish the causal relationship between these factors.

A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Anthropology Department of Anthropology Faculty of Humanities University of the Witwatersrand March 2017 / This study explores the experiences of teenage pregnancy and motherhood among two generations of mothers living in Johannesburg, South Africa. This engagement with gendered subjectivity took the form of ethnographic fieldwork conducted with three older women (35 to 42 years old) who gave birth between the ages of 16 and 18; as well as five young women aged 18-19 who became mothers during their teenage years. Using a social constructionist framework, the study explores the gendered nature of teenage pregnancy by discussing the narratives of women before and after having their first child. It argues that gendered experiences of teenage pregnancy play a crucial role in local understandings and practices of good motherhood. In particular, being a good mother for the older women in the study meant doing their best as parents to prevent teenage pregnancy in the younger generation. The women saw this as the best way to safeguard their daughters’ social reputations and educational futures in a context that considers teenage pregnancy to be unacceptable. When their attempts at preventing pregnancy proved unsuccessful, the older women were cast as inadequate parents who were partly to blame for their daughters’ pregnancies. / MT2018

In the post-apartheid period, little research has focused on the economic welfare of South African mothers. In particular there are few studies that compare the economic status of mothers by marital status. Many children in South Africa live in households without fathers (Posel and Devey 2006), which indicates that there is a high incidence of single motherhood in South Africa. Previous research has shown that South African women are more likely to be poor than their male counterparts and female-headed households, on average, are poorer than male-headed households (Posel and Rogan 2009a; Armstrong et al. 2008; Hoogeveen and Özler 2006; Budlender 2005; Rose and Charlton 2002; Woolard and Leibbrandt 1999). These results suggest that single mothers and their children would be more likely to be worse off than families that include men. Historically, insufficient data on motherhood made it difficult to identify a national sample of mothers; however recent household surveys have made it easier to do so. Using the General Household Survey (GHS) 2006 I am able to identify all women aged from 19 to 65 who are co-resident with at least one of their children aged 18 or younger. A disadvantage of this sample is that it excludes not co-resident mothers who have left their household of origin – often in pursuit of better work opportunities. Consequently the sample underestimates the extent of motherhood as well as the labour force participation rate of African single mothers in particular. Despite this limitation, I am able to gain useful insights into the economic welfare of South African mothers. By undertaking a descriptive and poverty analysis I show that on average, African and White single co-resident mothers have an inferior economic status compared to African and White married co-resident mothers respectively. I also show that disparities in income exist between the two races with White mothers, on average, having greater access to resources compared to African mothers. A benefit of the GHS 2006 is that it includes individual information on the receipt of social grant income. Thus I am able to quantify the impact of public transfers, as well as other categories of income, on poverty alleviation. I show that African single co-resident mothers, in particular, are highly dependent on grants. The study also explores the Child Support Grant (CSG) specifically and notes that the grant is limited in coverage and value. Furthermore, I highlight that the only other formal method for single mothers to obtain financial assistance, is via the private maintenance system, which is fraught with inefficiencies and often the costs of engaging with the system far outweigh the benefits. This dissertation therefore highlights the plight of South African single co-resident mothers and concludes by suggesting methods for improving their economic status. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2009.

Thesis (DTech (Education))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2007 / There are many challenges to girls' education. Each and every barrier is challenging in and of itself. Teenage pregnancy/motherhood is a major cause of schooling disruption. Research shows that about 4 in every 10 girls become pregnant at least once before age 20 (McDowell, 2003). In most cases, teen pregnancy/motherhood has resulted in the discontinuation of education for the girls, leading to the loss of a sustainable future. In South Africa, girls have the right to continue schooling in public schools even after becoming mothers. In the Western Cape, the Education Department introduced the Managing Learner Pregnancy Policy (MLPP) which guarantees pregnant or mothering learners a right to remain in public schools. Despite the MLPP, teen mothers face a number of challenges as learners - they feel marginalised by the schooling system. Consequently, it is not easy for the girls to succeed with their schooling. They experience pressure from teachers, fellow learners, parents and society. In most cases, the teen mothers receive very little support and they are usually misunderstood. Society perceives teen mothers as deviants, failures and irredeemable girls who can contaminate other girls and influence them to behave immorally. Teen mothers are stigmatised. The stigma and discourses that help to construct it are the forces that impact on the schooling processes of the teen mothers. In most cases, responses of educators, parents and communities towards teen mothers are affected by beliefs, values and attitudes situated in the discourses.

M.A. (Social Work) / The aim of this study was to determine the effect of a particular parent guidance programme on the stress experienced by working mothers. The programme was aimed at the working mother, given her particularly difficult position and resulting stress, as well as the importance of the mother's role in child care. A specific programme known as "Ouerverrykingsprogram" was presented to working mothers and its effect was evaluated with regard to certain areas of stress. In evaluating the effectiveness of the parent guidance programme, the specific goal of the study was to ascertain whether working mothers, subjected to the programme, experienced a difference in stress on the following aspects: intrapsychic stress, work stress, family stress (referring to both marital and parent-child relationships), total stress. with this goal in mind the following objectives were set for the study: To give a theoretical discussion of the working mothers dilemma. To discuss the enriching and preventative value of parent guidance for working mothers. To apply an existing parent guidance programme in practice and to evaluate certain components relevant to the main goal. To ascertain the effectiveness of the programme by means of of an evaluation questionnaire focussing on the opinion of subjects regarding the course.

This treatise reports on a qualitative exploratory study that was aimed at identifying and describing the challenges experienced by single mothers who were students at a South African university. The researcher is of the view that single parenthood is a global challenge but very little has been done to explore this phenomenon in South Africa. A purposive convenience sample of four voluntary full time registered single mother students at a university in the Western Cape Province was utilised in the study. The participants ranged in age between eighteen and twenty three years and were English second language speakers. In-depth individual interviews were conducted with the four participants and the data were analysed into qualitative themes. The following main challenges for the sample of single mother university students emerged from the data: (i) Financial challenges. (ii) Concern for the general wellbeing of children. (iii) Difficulties regarding the separation of mother and child. (iv) The importance of tertiary education in finding future employment. (v) Dual role stress. Sub-themes within these main themes were also identified and discussed. Recommendations for future research, based on the findings of this study, are also offered.