The purpose of this study was to come to a greater understanding of the experiences of birth
mothers of children with FASD since the birth of their child. The principles of feminist research
practice were utilized throughout in order to give a voice to the women who participated in the
study. The research followed the general guidelines to conducting hermeneutic phenomenology
outlined by van Manen (1990). Purposeful sampling was used to recruit four birth mothers of
children with FASD who have been involved in the mothering of that child. Data was generated
through three semi-structured interviews with each participant, including a hermeneutic
interview in which the women participated in the process of interpretation. Data was analysed
using selective, detailed and wholistic methods and through the process of writing and re-writing
(van Manen, 1990).<p>
The results focus on the social and emotional experiences of the women who participated in
the study. The experience of being a birth mother of a child with FASD is represented in a
discussion of four main themes: Living with the Past: Self-Forgiven, yet Always Present; Living
with Others: Judgement and Understanding; Living with the Self: Unworthy and Unfit; and
Living with Ambivalence: Mothering as a Birth Mother. The implications of this research in
relation to the understanding of the experiences of birth mothers of children with FASD and
potential supports are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:USASK/oai:usask.ca:etd-09192010-174632 |
| Date | 21 September 2010 |
| Creators | Wood, Megan |
| Contributors | Martin, Stephanie, Hellsten, Laurie, Murray, Lee |
| Publisher | University of Saskatchewan |
| Source Sets | University of Saskatchewan Library |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://library.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-09192010-174632/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Saskatchewan or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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