African American Adolescent Mothers' Childbirth Support From Fathers, Grandmothers, Nurses, Doctors, and Doulas.

The morning after giving birth in a large urban hospital, 121 African American adolescents participating in a community doula program identified the people who had been with them during labor and birth and narrated their birth stories. Besides medical providers, the people most likely to be present for the birth were the infants' fathers (n = 73, 60%), the mothers' mothers (n = 70, 58%), and their doulas (n = 100, 83%). Birth stories were coded to identify types of support provided by different people. Mothers' mothers, infants' fathers, and doulas were more likely to be mentioned in the stories as providers of emotional and instrumental support than were medical providers. Doulas were more likely to be mentioned as providers of information than were family members or medical providers.

A longitudinal investigation of young mothers' prenatal attachment, depressive symptoms, and early parenting behaviour.

OBJECTIVES: This study explores whether young, low-income mothers' prenatal attachment to their infants is related to attachment and parenting behaviour postnatally. BACKGROUND: A small literature has documented continuity in maternal attachment from pregnancy to postpartum and shown that early maternal attachment is associated with positive parenting behaviour. Less is known about whether prenatal attachment has a unique impact on parenting behaviour, or if it is primarily a step in the development of postnatal attachment, which in turn influences parenting. Additionally, it is unclear whether associations between attachment and early parenting might be attributable to other factors such as depressive symptoms. METHOD: This longitudinal study followed young primiparous mothers from pregnancy through 3-weeks postnatal. 240 ethnically/racially diverse low-income American women reported their attachment-related thoughts and feelings and their depressive symptoms during pregnancy and postnatally. At 3 weeks postpartum, mothers were observed interacting with their infant. RESULTS: There was stability in attachment and depressive symptoms from pregnancy to postpartum. In multivariate path models, prenatal attachment was directly associated with two types of parenting behaviour: positive engagement and encouragement of learning, even when accounting for depressive symptoms and postnatal attachment. There was an indirect effect of prenatal attachment on sensitivity through postnatal attachment. CONCLUSION: The foundation of a mother's emotional connection to her infant begins before birth. Parenting support programmes for young mothers should begin during pregnancy. Supporting the establishment of positive prenatal attachment may also have a positive influence on later parenting behaviour among mothers, including mothers experiencing depressive symptoms.

Making meaning of motherhood: Self and life transitions among African American adolescent mothers.

Although adolescent childbearing is widely viewed as a major social problem, and research suggests that young mothers and their children are at risk for poor economic and academic outcomes, these ideas may be in need of revision. Recent scholarship has pointed out that young mothers have been unfairly blamed and stigmatized for problems that should be attributed to social and economic inequality, racism, and poverty. The present study extends that research by listening to the voices of young mothers. In total, 179 urban African American women were asked at 4, 12, and 24 months after giving birth to describe how their lives had changed since becoming a mother. A team of coders content coded themes with rigorous checks for intercoder reliability. Positive themes were far more prevalent than negative themes. Motherhood was often described as a positive developmental change, providing the young women with a sense of maturity, responsibility, motivation, and commitment to placing the baby's needs ahead of their own. Motherhood was sometimes described as a life-turning point whereby young women turned away from undesirable activities and became focused on school, work, and their family's future. Challenges reflected common stresses of parenting for people of all ages, such as lack of sleep and burden of caregiving, but also limited time to socialize with friends. Findings suggest that although policymakers and professionals view adolescent parenthood as a social ill to be eradicated, for the mothers themselves, the experience is more complex, meaningful, and positive. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).