A possibilidade do controle feminino sobre a reprodução, de escolha ou não pela maternidade, do número de filhos e de quando tê-los, se coloca como um fenômeno que vem se consolidando ao longo do tempo, acompanhando as diversas transformações na família, no casamento, na maternidade e na paternidade. Cresce, nesse contexto, o número de mulheres que postergam a maternidade para idades cada vez mais avançadas. Tal fenômeno vem muitas vezes carregado de idealizações e de desconhecimento, o que pode gerar a ilusão de um controle que não necessariamente equivale às vivências reais. O objetivo geral desta tese é o de investigar o fenômeno do adiamento da maternidade, na sociedade atual, com base nas vivências de mulheres de dois diferentes grupos que optaram por ter o primeiro filho depois dos trinta e cinco anos: aquelas que conseguiram e aquelas que não, seja porque ainda estivessem tentando, seja porque houvessem desistido. Como objetivo específico, pretende-se pensar a influência dos fatores conjugalidade, carreira profissional e história de vida, nas famílias de origem na determinação desse tipo de escolha. Para tanto, foram realizadas, a partir de uma metodologia clínico-qualitativa, a aplicação das pranchas 1, 2, 7MF, 10 e 16 do TAT, além de uma entrevista semidirigida, com oito mulheres quatro pertencentes a cada grupo com idades entre trinta e seis e quarenta e um anos, em um relacionamento estável, com mais de oito anos de escolaridade, habitantes da região metropolitana de São Paulo. Os dados foram analisados de acordo com o referencial psicanalítico, levando-se em conta, também, aspectos históricos e psicossociais que influenciam o fenômeno. Os resultados são apresentados de acordo com as seguintes categorias de análise: a experiência do adiamento da maternidade; a maternidade, como experiência para aquelas que se tornaram mães, e como experiência projetada, para aquelas que não se tornaram mães; conjugalidade; carreira profissional; relação com a própria mãe e conjugalidade dos pais; e a questão do poder. Conclui-se que o fenômeno do adiamento da maternidade, na sociedade contemporânea, mostra-se complexo e imerso em uma multiplicidade de significados. Em meio às especificidades de cada caso, algumas aproximações puderam ser feitas entre as experiências das mulheres dos dois grupos, especialmente no que diz respeito à valorização e idealização da conjugalidade, percebida inclusive como mais importante que o desenvolvimento de uma carreira profissional, bem como a possibilidade de integração dos aspectos que concernem ao poder em relação ao corpo e ao controle da reprodução por meio dos binômios: onipotência/impotência e elementos femininos/masculinos puros na mulher contemporânea, de um ponto de vista winnicottiano. As divergências mais marcantes entre os dois grupos se referem sobretudo à relação estabelecida com as próprias mães, além da conjugalidade dos pais. A postergação da maternidade, fenômeno tão atual e com potencial para mobilizar tantas angústias e sofrimentos, pode ser vivenciada pelas mulheres contemporâneas de maneira mais ou menos saudável ou criativa, com uma maior ou menor capacidade de integração da ambivalência, a depender dos recursos psíquicos individuais e do legado geracional / The womans option to control her fertility, to choose motherhood or not, to choose the number of children and the time to have them, is a phenomenon that has been establishing itself over time, following diverse transformations in the family and the marriage, as well as in motherhood and fatherhood. In this context, there has been an increase in the number of women who delay childbirth until later in life. Many times, such phenomenon comes loaded with idealization and lack of knowledge, which may generate an illusion of control that does not necessarily equate with the real experience. The general objective of this thesis is to investigate the phenomenon of delayed motherhood in current society from the perspective of two different groups of women who delayed childbirth to later than thirty-five years of age: those who had already succeeded and those who hadnt yet and either gave up or kept trying. The specific objective is to reflect on the influence of the following factors in determining the choice of delayed childbirth: marital situation, professional career and history of families of origin. For this purpose, it was used a clinical-qualitative methodology that included the application of pictures 1, 2, 7GF, 10 and 16 of the TAT (Thematic apperception test) and of semi-directed interviews with eight women (four from each group) with ages ranging from thirty-six to forty-one years, who were in a steady relationship, had more than eight years of schooling, and resided in the metropolitan region of São Paulo. The data are analyzed in accordance to the psychoanalytical referential, taking into account historical and psychosocial aspects that influence the phenomenon. The results are presented in accordance to the following categories of analysis: the experience of delayed childbirth; the experience of motherhood for those who became mothers and the projected experience for those who did not become mothers; marital life; professional career; relationship with their own mother; their parents marital life; and the power issue. The conclusion is that the phenomenon of delayed motherhood in contemporary society reveals itself as complex and immersed in a multiplicity of meanings. Among the specificities of each case, some proximity between the experiences of the women of the two different groups could be established particularly with regard to the attributed value and idealization of the marital relationship, perceived as more important than the development of a professional career; and with regard to the integration of the power aspects that refer to the body and the control of fertility, by means of the binomials: omnipotence/impotence and pure masculine/feminine elements in the contemporary woman, from a Winnicottian point of view. The remarkable divergences between the two groups referred especially to the relationship established with their own mothers and the marital life of their parents. The delayed motherhood, a current phenomenon with potential to stir much distress and suffering, can be experienced deeply by the contemporary women in a more or less healthy or creative way, to a greater or lesser degree of integration of their capacity for sustaining ambivalence, depending on the individual psychic resources and his/hers generational legacy

D.Cur. / The postpartum-period is a very emotional time for the mother with a new baby, which increases her need for support. Various factors contribute to this need for support, such as the change from the extended family to the nuclear family, which has reduced the number of network persons. The hospitalisation period of the mother after the birth of a baby has also decreased drastically, owing to the high medical costs associated with the birth of a baby. This results in the mother being discharged from the hospital much earlier and her accessibility to professional support being limited thereby. This source of support, namely the professional person who provides the mother with support, is also insufficient since the growth of the population far exceeds that of the nursing occupation, and the need is to huge for only professional persons to provide in. If the mother does not receive the necessary support that she may need, it could lead to postpartum-depression, which has a detrimental effect not only on the mother but also on the new baby and the mother's family. This research is therefore vitally important to the midwife, as it ensures a healthy mother and baby, not only in the hospital environment but also at home in her community where she must live and raise her baby. Community support to the mother during the postpartum-period is a relatively unfamiliar field in midwifery. Although the term community support is often used, the definition thereof has not yet been clarified, and it is used in different contexts, with different meanings. The term community support to the mother has therefore not yet been adequately described within the context of the postpartum-period. The objective of this research is to investigate and describe, and analyse the term community support to the mother during the postpartum-period, and to identify the characteristics of community support to the mother during the postpartum-period, as well as the network persons who must provide this community support to the mother, in order to establish the necessary guidelines for the provision of sufficient community support to the mother during the postpartum-period.

Studies have shown that a mother’s history of child maltreatment is associated with her child’s experience of internalising and externalising difficulties. This study aimed to characterise the mediating pathways that may underpin this association. Data on a mother’s history of child maltreatment, depression during pregnancy, depression after birth, maladaptive parenting practices and her child’s experience of maltreatment and preadolescent internalising and externalising difficulties were analysed in a sample of 9,397 mother-child dyads followed prospectively from pregnancy to child age 13. The results showed that maternal history of child maltreatment was significantly associated with child internalising and externalising difficulties in preadolescence. Maternal antenatal depression, post-birth depression, maladaptive parenting and child maltreatment were observed to significantly mediate this association. The study concluded that psychological and psychosocial interventions focused around treating maternal depression, particularly during pregnancy, and improving parenting skills, could be offered to mothers with traumatic childhood experiences to help protect against psychopathology in the next generation.

This essay will make a close reading of a selection of poems written by the poet and essayist Marilyn Hacker which explores the relationship between motherhood and lesbianism. The poetry is analyzed from a lesbian feminist view that uncovers how lesbianism can be used to politicize the construct of motherhood. The four poems that will be read contain passages where the poet relates to her experiences of motherhood with a lesbian sensibility. The analysis accounts for the political subject positions that lesbians can take account of in their writing. The study has found that in the poems, lesbianism becomes a creative force that can deconstruct the patriarchal hegemony of motherhood.

Abstract The theoretical basis for this research is alcoholism as a disease. The methodological choices are based on a critical emancipatory perspective. The data consists of individual interviews, group interviews, and written accounts collected from an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) group, and is analysed through different narrative methods. The principle research question of this doctoral thesis asks, ‘What sort of process of change is the process of recovery from alcoholism as described by eight alcoholic mothers belonging to two generations?’ The secondary research questions are as follows: 1) How do denial of alcoholism in society and societal attitudes towards alcoholic mothers become apparent in dialogue between mothers from two generations? 2) How do mothers in their narration portray the experience of losing control of their drinking? 3) How does the mother-child relationship appear in the narratives of alcoholic mothers? 4) In their narratives, how do mothers describe recovery from alcoholism as a transformative process of change? The results challenge us to examine the expectations placed on motherhood and to scrutinise everything a mother must overcome in order to be a ‘good enough’ mother. Those expectations also set a threshold for applying for and receiving support. This study highlights the stability and stigma of the problems and attitudes faced by alcoholic mothers in our society, strengthening our understanding of the mechanisms of social denial related to alcoholism as a disease. The mothers’ subjective descriptions of losing control of their drinking bring out the nature of alcoholism as a comprehensive, progressive disease associated with a harsh experience as well as negative emotional states. Alcoholism is a disease that traumatises mothers and their children. Issues relating to alcoholism often remain unaddressed in the world of experience of mothers and children for years after a mother becomes sober. This research also highlights the consequences of alcoholism as a disease inherited from one generation to another. The mothers describe their recovery as a liberating, empowering process. The meaningful relationship created with alcohol turns in to meaningful relationship with an abstinent way of life. The significance of telling one’s story and receiving peer support is emphasised. Recovery from alcoholism is, in the longer term, a process leading to transformative change. This research shows that alcoholism is a disease that can be recovered from and that investments should be made to develop support systems for alcoholics with children. / Tiivistelmä Tutkimuksen teoreettisena lähtökohtana on alkoholismi sairautena. Metodologiset valinnat pohjautuvat kriittis-emansipatoriseen näkökulmaan. Aineisto muodostuu Nimettömien Alkoholistien (AA) piiristä kerätyistä yksilö- ja ryhmähaastatteluista sekä kirjoitetuista kertomuksista, ja se analysoidaan erilaisilla kerronnallisilla menetelmillä. Väitöskirjan päätutkimuskysymys tarkastelee sitä, millainen muutosprosessi alkoholismista toipumisen prosessi on kahdeksan kahteen sukupolveen kuuluvan alkoholistiäidin kertomana. Alakysymyksissä kysytään, miten alkoholismiin yhteiskunnassa kohdistuva kielto ja alkoholistiäiteihin kohdistuvat asenteet tulevat esille kahden sukupolven äitien dialogissa, miten äitien kerronnassa tulee esiin juomisen hallinnan menetyksen kokemus, millä tavoin alkoholistiäitien kerronnassa näyttäytyy äidin ja lapsen välinen suhde ja millä tavoin äidit kerronnassaan kuvaavat alkoholismista toipumisen prosessiaan transformatiivisena muutosprosessina? Tulokset haastavat tarkastelemaan äitiydelle asetettuja odotuksia ja sitä, mistä kaikesta äitien tulee selviytyä ollakseen riittävän hyviä äitejä. Odotukset asettavat omat kynnyksensä myös avun hakemiselle ja saamiselle. Äitien kerronta nostaa esiin alkoholistiäitien kohtaamien ongelmien ja asenteiden pysyvyyden ja leimaavuuden vahvistaen käsitystä alkoholismiin sairautena liittyvistä yhteiskunnallisista kiellon mekanismeista. Äitien subjektiivinen kuvaus juomisen hallinnan menetyksestä tuo esiin alkoholismin luonteen kokonaisvaltaisena ja etenevänä sairautena, johon liittyvät rankat pohjakokemukset sekä negatiiviset tunnetilat. Alkoholismi on äitejä ja heidän lapsiaan traumatisoiva sairaus. Asiat ovat käsittelemättöminä äitien ja lasten kokemusmaailmassa usein vielä vuosia äidin raitistumisen jälkeen. Tutkimus nostaa esiin alkoholismin seurauksia myös sukupolvesta toiseen periytyvänä sairautena. Toipumistaan äidit kuvaavat vapauttavana ja voimaannuttavana prosessina. Alkoholiin syntynyt merkityksellinen suhde kääntyy merkitykselliseksi suhteeksi raitista elämäntapaa kohtaan. Kertomisen ja vertaistuen merkitys korostuvat. Alkoholismista toipuminen on pidemmällä aikavälillä transformatiiviseen muutokseen johtava prosessi. Tutkimus osoittaa alkoholismin sairaudeksi, josta voi toipua ja alkoholistit lapsineen asiakasryhmäksi, jonka auttamisjärjestelmien kehittämiseen tulisi panostaa.

This thesis deals with legal and ethical aspects of assisted reproduction. The aim of the thesis is to analyse the current legal regulation of assisted reproduction in the Czech Republic, in comparison with the legal system of selected countries. Further aim is to expose the legal regulation's deficits and suggest possible solutions de lege ferenda, particularly with regard to scientific developments and ethical attitudes of the current society. The thesis is divided into six chapters, including the introduction and conclusion. The introductory chapter outlines the issue of assisted reproduction and denotes individual areas on which the thesis will focus. The first chapter deals with the various methods of assisted reproduction and with the term of infertility from the perspective of medical and historical perspective. The second chapter focuses on the legal regulation of individual areas of assisted reproduction in the Czech Republic. Among others, these areas consist of the constitutional protection of the human embryo, the determination of parenthood, the issue of surrogacy, gamete donation and disposition of embryos. The third chapter deals with a comparison of legal framework in selected states. As a representative of the Anglo-American system was chosen United Kingdom of Great Britain and...

The diploma thesis deals with reflection of a picture of women- mothers in chosen hindu tales. Deals about motherhood in India on the base of literal characters of woman- mothers, analyses significant aspects of motherhood in India. Pays attention to influences of surrounding society and how they struggle with it. The thesis sources from original literature in hindi language and from other translations with taking account of original verses.

This paper contributes to the discussion on the effects of single motherhood on happiness. We use a mixed-method approach. First, based on indepth interviews with mothers who gave birth while single, we explore mechanisms through which children may influence mothers' happiness. In a second step, we analyze panel survey data to quantify this influence. Our results leave no doubt that, while raising a child outside of marriage poses many challenges, parenthood has some positive influence on a lone mother's life. Our qualitative evidence shows that children are a central point in an unmarried woman's life, and that many life decisions are taken with consideration of the child's welfare, including escaping from pathological relationships. Our quantitative evidence shows that, although the general level of happiness among unmarried women is lower than among their married counterparts, raising a child does not have a negative impact on their happiness.

Whilst previous research has explored women's experiences of disclosing symptoms of postnatal depression (PND) to health professionals, very little qualitative research exists on women's experiences of disclosing to people in their personal support networks. Research has shown that some mothers with PND find it difficult to disclose to professionals and prefer to seek support from partners, family and friends. Aim: The current study aimed to explore the overall process mothers go through to disclose PND - to people with whom they have personal relationships, as well as health professionals. Method: Five women who experienced and disclosed PND participated in semi-structured interviews. Verbatim transcripts were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Results: The analysis produced four super-ordinate themes: 'Trying to cope whilst making sense of experiences', 'Deciding whether to disclose: Facilitative and inhibiting factors', 'The two-way interpersonal nature of disclosure', 'Disclosure as part of a transformative process'. Conclusions: This study highlighted the influence of internalised expectations of motherhood and stigma surrounding PND on how mothers try to cope with their initial symptoms and on their decisions about whether or not to disclose. The participants described a cautious approach to disclosure in which they had to deal with setbacks. Consequences of disclosing were considered alongside how the disclosure process was influenced by recovery from PND.

[pt] Este estudo tem como objeto as mulheres pobres chefes de família na qualidade de articuladoras das dimensões do cuidado e da provisão em suas famílias. Para tanto, toma-se como referência empírica dez (10) chefes de família monoparentais atendidas pelo Centro de Referência da Assistência Social – CRAS Vila São José na cidade de São João de Meriti. A análise foi articulada em torno das experiências dessas mulheres procurando conhecer o significado da chefia familiar e as estratégias desenvolvidas na articulação cuidado/provisão no cotidiano. Este estudo de caso desenvolve-se a partir das categorias família, gênero e trabalho que fundamentaram a pesquisa qualitativa. Os resultados alcançados indicam que o tripé - trabalho precário, programas sociais e redes de ajuda - fornece a sustentabilidade para o desempenho do cuidado e da provisão. Neste sentido, a chefia familiar é legitimada por uma autoridade referenciada na condição de mulher-mãe que se expressa em ganhos de independência feminina e de novas responsabilidades. / [en] This study aims the poor women that are the head of the household in the quality of care and provision articulators. For that, we take as reference ten women leaders of single-parent families reached by the Centro de Referência da Assistência Social - CRAS (Social Assistance Refence Center), at Vila São José neighborhood, in São João de Meriti city. The analysis was articulated around the experiences of these women looking for knowing the meaning of the family leadership and the strategies developed through the articulation of care/provision in their daily lives. This case study develops from the categories family, gender and work, that underlies the qualitative research. The results indicate that the tripod - precarious work, social programs and aid networks - provides sustainability for the provision and care performance. Thus, the family leadership is legitimated by an authority referenced in the condition of woman-mother that expresses itself through the gain of feminine independence and new responsabilities.