The notion that pregnancy can, for some women, be a time of unhappiness and depression has only recently been recognized in media and by the general public. Researchers and clinicians have begun to study antenatal depression with regards to prevalence, associated factors, and treatment. Most of the research regarding antenatal depression has been quantitative in method. Qualitative inquiry would provide the rich description of womens lived experience and meaning of antenatal depression. A hermeneutic phenomenological study was conducted with six women who scored 10, 11, or 12 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, indicating mild to moderate symptoms of depression. Participants were interviewed individually regarding their experiences of depression during pregnancy. Data generated in the form of transcripts were analyzed and five themes emerged: disconnection vs. new connection and/or reconnection; loss of identity vs. new identity; fatigue and illness vs. vitality and wellness; anxiety and insecurity vs. confidence and security; and sadness and hopelessness vs. joy and expectation. The overarching shared meaning of these experiences was ambivalence. Findings provided rich, thick descriptions of the lived experience and meaning of antenatal depression. Future research and implications for counselling practice are discussed.

In 1980s, following the urbanization and industrialization, the rate of dual-earner and nuclear family increased in Taiwan. The changing family form also influenced the time-distribution between parents in housework and child-caring. Men started to participate in these kinds of work. The image of ¡§New father¡¨ or ¡§New mother¡¨ also appeared in mass media. However, the images of parenthood provided by advertisements are not neutral and value-free. Thus, the aims of this study are to discover the power relationship and sex ideology through using semiotics to analyze the parenthood¡¦s images on advertisements in Taiwan. 15 processed milk advertisements are chosen as the samples for this study. The major findings revealed that the images of parenthood in processed milk advertisements are full of patriarchy ideology. Although there are some new parent¡¦s images appeared in the advertisements, the images of parenthood are in some measure full of patriarchy ideology. Mother is still children¡¦s major caretaker in the advertisements. The distribution of child care is different. Mother has to do repetitive, scheduled and important housework like preparing lunch. In comparison, father only has to do easy caring work like playing with children. Because of the different work distribution, mother is imprisoned in the private sphere. In addition, mother is idealized and marginalized in the advertisements. Mother can be good mother easily with the help of processed milk. However, the product, processed milk, is more important than mother in the advertising. Mother can only be completed with the help of processed milk. Mother is simplified as buyer and user of the product.

Thesis (M.A.)--Ball State University, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Nov. 30, 2009).

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published_or_final_version / English / Master / Master of Philosophy

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 202-211). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (M.A.)--Rutgers University, 2008. / "Graduate Program in Liberal Studies." Includes bibliographical references (p. 51-54).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Acadia University, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 127-133). Also available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.