Bio-psychosocial aspects of Motherhood in Young adulthood
Motherhood is overall an individual experience regardless of any developmental stage, psychosocial crises, or social environmental influences the individual may or may not be going through. Motherhood could be perceived for women who have enough social support and coping mechanisms, as an amazing and rewarding experience. However, this paper will focus on exploring this experience specifically in young adulthood in the 21st century, from a feminist point of view, describing how the struggle surrounding motherhood can be internalized and how it could also lead to a crisis.
Young adulthood is a period filled with great anxiety. When people struggle with major issues, such as sorting out directions in life, worrying about the future and struggling to change from dependent family relationships to independent ones, tremendous individual and family turmoil is not uncommon (N, Schwartzberg., K, Berliner., D., Jacob, 1995). This search usually includes seeking partners as significant others in this developmental stage of life (Walsh, 2006). This can lead to a psychosocial crisis described by Erikson (Intimacy versus Isolation, 1950). It can also lead to motherhood. Then the questions that arise are: What happens to young adult women when motherhood gets in her way? What does it mean to be a mother in the 21st century when women’s roles have changed so much? T, Gordan & E, Lahelma (2004) developed a study where tensions about transitions into motherhood and womanhood are explored in young people. In the study, 40 young women and 23 young men aged around 18 years were interviewed individually, in pairs or in groups of three. The study supported the theory that women in the 21st century want to stay without children as long as possible; they want to stay young, with time for relationships, studying, work and travel, and definitely not children at an early age . As Gordon and Lahelma,(2004) stated, “young people are located in an ambivalent position of anticipating futures with increased rights, duties and responsibilities as adult citizens. Young women for example, balance between increasing opportunities for independence and autonomy, and increasing obligations to be self-reliant and self-sufficient” (p. 81). The “no children” tendency of the young women in this study may indicate that they are experiencing a certain amount of fear about becoming a mother, and there are many factors that could contribute to that fear.
Among the factors that contribute to this feeling, is the emphasis by Social Sciences on the huge responsibility women as mothers have in human development. Most studies related to attachment issues have been done in mothers, even tough in today’s society mothers are no longer the only or primary caregivers. For example, Psychoanalytical Theory has fundamentally highlighted a maternal intrapsychic and representation constellation, which is deeply influenced by mother’s infantile experiences and by her vicissitudes with parental figures (Ammanity & Trentini (2009). Also studies related to find neurobiological and psychological transformations about the child -caregiver attachment theory are based on maternal brain functioning, when the mother-infant subjective matrix is built (Ammanity & Trentini (2009) Chorodow (2005) argues that most psychoanalytic thinking about gender should be considered modernist, as it draws on traditional views of scientific evidence and holds more universalistic and dichotomized conceptions of men and women; it doesn't consider role differences. It would seem that any theory that does not consider the fact that men’s and women’s roles are changing in most societies is still a modernist approach: how could we have an accurate assumption of attachment related to human development if we are not considering the fact that in many families in 21st century societies, both parents work and children spend most of their time in child care or with the grandparents? In fact, families have changed - what about families with homosexual parents? Therefore, Social Sciences should also change the spectrum of looking at motherhood and parenting as we are moving forward to a more equal type of parenting in the post-modern world.
The aim of this paper is to explore the bio-psychosocial construction of motherhood specifically in young adulthood. Biologically young adulthood seems like the best period of time to have children, due to the excellent health most women have in this time of their lives. However, sociologically the notion of becoming a mother in the early or middle twenties seems to be undesirable for most women in the 21st century. Furthermore, psychologically it can be perceived as a crisis for some women than can lead to clinical issues such as post-partum depression, ambivalent attachment, insecure attachment, and other issues depending on the circumstances of the individual and her environment.
The bio-psychosocial factors surrounding the concept of motherhood are interconnected in terms of the inputs and outputs in Human Behavior. In order to explore the complexities of motherhood, I will divide these factors in three parts:
- Part I: The Biological birth of Motherhood
- Part II: The Sociological Birth of Motherhood
- Part III: The Psychological Birth of Motherhood.
Part I : The Biological birth of Motherhood
Motherhood becomes a new and real identity for an individual when a woman delivers a child. However, that transformation is caused by an anterior act which is often, but not always, sexual intercourse with a man where the female gamete and the male gamete fuse to become a zygote or fertilized egg. It has to be placed in consideration that in this sexual intercourse the man needs to ejaculate which is accompanied by an orgasm. Therefore, sexual pleasure is a requirement for men to reproduce. Women, on the other hand, do not require having an orgasm to procreate a human being.
The next step in the process of becoming a mother involves cell dividing into an embryo and growing until it becomes a fetus inside of a woman’s body. This requires many changes in the woman’s body such as weight changes and hormonal changes. An important biological change that prepares a woman to give birth is related to neuro endocrinological aspects. Craig H. Kinsley & Kelly G Lambert, (2008) stated “As female transitions into motherhood, many neurobiological adaptations are required to meet the demands presented by her offspring, brain modifications have been observed in the hippocampus and amygdala providing support for neuroplasticity. Although a majority of work on the parental brain has been conducted in females, preliminary research suggests similar changes in the biparental male California deer mouse ” (p. 515). This data is relevant because more studies could reveal that actually women are not the only ones who can perform an excellent job in raising children; the California deer mouse, for example exhibits increased parental care because of their exposure to the pregnant female which creates neurobiological modifications as seen in female.
After approximately 38 weeks, motherhood becomes a reality through one of two commonly painful processes called “normal delivery” and “cesarean section”, that bring a new baby born to the family, to society, to the world.
After the baby is born, the mother is concerned with biological issues about the baby and herself, for example: the gaining of weight, the hormonal rhythms to produce breast milk, the suction patterns of the baby, the physical pain through that suction, the pain in the back due to the breast or bottle feeding positions, the sleeping patterns of the baby, the lack of sleep in order to fulfill the biological and emotional needs of the newborn, the bleeding following the postpartum, the scars of the surgery if it was cesarean , the scars of the stretch marks, the vaginal pain due to certain procedures in delivery, the stretch of the vagina that makes coitus less pleasurable and sex less attractive, the change in the physical image, the health of the baby, the colic some babies suffer, the crying of a baby, the hormonal imbalances that add to the physical pain of postpartum.
Thus from a biological point of view to become a mother requires a lot of physical pain and a lot of changes in the body; in fact a woman needs to open herself up from a physical point of view to allow another human being to live.
Part II: The sociological Birth of motherhood
Motherhood is still very attached to the concept of womanhood. The notion that motherhood completes a woman is part of societal constructs; therefore motherhood always fluctuates between a dual conflict of love and struggle. It is not uncommon for women to feel empowered by motherhood but also oppressed, because to be a mother does fulfill emotional needs that sociological influences create associated with the gender but at the same time a woman has to fit the care and nurturing of another human being among her roles which are changing and increasing for women in today’s world.
How is to be a women today? According to Medina & Magnuson (2009), women in the 21st century have to fulfill many external social roles while striving to meet the expectations of nurturing their families. Additionally the standards for good mothering seem to be escalating and this might contribute to the notion of role identity . Additionally as Medina & Magnuson (2009) stated, mothers often feel pressure to stay at home with their children if they can afford it; therefore middle class mothers who want to pursue their professional careers might be judged as uncaring .
There is also a matter of finances: How much money does a woman need to raise a child? According to a CBN news, a new government study revealed that middle-income families with a child born in 2009 spent about $221,000 raising the child through age 17; with inflation the number climbs to nearly $300,000. Not so many people can afford to provide this amount of money when they have children in young adulthood unless they perform various roles as workers and students to improve careers and financial status. This factor can also lead to young women having to live with their parents or relative in order to fulfill survival needs.
As Chadorow (2000) stated “mothering is not simply another socially created unequal role that can be challenged, like the glass ceilings and discriminatory practices that keep women from achieving in the educational, economic, and political world” (p. 346). It should be also an opportunity for men and women to enhance equal parenting roles. As a social fact, children born from women’s bodies need to be raised in families with many different characteristics. What happens with a girl raised by two men who are her fathers or a boy raised by two women who are his mothers? What are the gender implications? There are many families today where both parents work, either out of economic necessity and/or because of equal ambitions to succeed in their professional careers, so why should not both parents have the same responsibility over their children? If we as a society are changing, then the social notion of motherhood should also change.
If families, societies, fathers, mothers, counselors, teachers are more willing to recognize that the role of parenting must be equally shared, young women would not be so scared of the notion of motherhood and the biological aspect would be more congruent with the sociological aspects, where a healthy young woman could also be a healthy young mother. The social support in this scenario is extremely important and can come from fathers, grandparents, child care access, school systems, government and social agencies.
Part III. Psychological birth of Motherhood
The concept of motherhood is not just related to the circumstances a woman is in at the moment an infant comes out of her body. It also has a history constructed in the first place from the relationship a woman has had with her own mother which develops the idea of what is to be a woman. This idea is related to the self image concept about gender. Chorodow (2000) described in her investigation of the female dynamic, the mother-daughter relationship and how women create and recreate this relationship internally. It is a cyclical process that begins at the daughter's birth. It is not just this mirror construction in a woman raising a woman - it is additionally the idea constructed by the culture about this mother-daughter relationship including the notion the culture has about female roles. For example: What is a woman for Italian American families? What is a woman for Latino families? What is a woman for Jewish families? What is the narrative of the mother and the family? Is it the mother complaining a lot about being a mother? Is it the mother happy about being a mother? I consider that there is a difference between the real feeling of motherhood that is more related to the biology, the imaginary notion of motherhood that is more related to culture and gender roles and expectations, and the abstraction that each individual creates about the concept of motherhood which becomes a subjective psychological reality.
How can these three factors be brought together to a congruent whole that results in a healthy motherhood?
Just imagine a little girl at two or three years playing with her baby toy and how she imagines how it is to be a mother as she already has processed some of the gender roles that the society where she is being raised has standardized. When the same girl is a teenager and has her menstruation, she understands that she could actually get pregnant and have real babies, but this notion is still part of her imagination. Then when pregnancy arrives, the maternal representations also arrive. This stage is symbolic and imaginary until a baby is born, accompanied with the delivery process. Then the real notion needs to be assimilated and accommodated into the mother’s psyche so the symbolism and internalization of the role is completed. It is not uncommon for first time mothers and fathers, just after the baby born, that there is a period of time when the notion of a relationship with this new human being is still “unreal” or in Piaget terms without accommodation. An example of this is that common question raise from mothers: “So now what?, the baby is here but what do I do” This a very fragile period that can lead to negative outcomes such as post partum depression or insecure attachment, if the mother does not have consistent social support systems and internal resources.
When motherhood occurs in young adulthood this psychological process could be particularly stressful because at the same time the young adult woman is likely dealing with the stress of seeking financial independence, educational and career goals and partner and friends relationships.
It is particularly important that mothers (as any other individuals) can be able to express their feelings of rage, frustration and sometimes even hatred towards the role with their friends, families and society through support groups, parenting groups, counseling, so they can relieve the tension about the duality of the role and be more effective as parents. If society finds appropriate ways for mothers to express their feelings of ambivalence about motherhood with acceptance and respect, child abuse and neglect would decrease.
In conclusion, in order to construct a more positive notion of motherhood whether it is in young adulthood or any developmental stage, there should be awareness of the biases around the concept. There is a lot “not said” about the struggle women have about being mothers. Each one of us, whether we are male, female, transgender, with children or no children, have a perspective about what a mother “should be or should not be”. We often declare mothers “responsible”, responsible even for their childrens' behaviors, choices or destinies.
We should be aware as society, and particularly as Social Work Practitioners of what are we asking women to do. Where are we placing them? Are we asking them to be some sort of God just because they have the biological ability to bring children into society? For example, when a single woman in young adulthood, struggling with three children, employment roles, and sexual relationships, arrives at a facility to seek help, what does the Social Worker think? Does she seem to be a good or bad mother? What is a good mother?
Motherhood is an individual experience. It is the woman who finally determines how she feels about being a mother, but Society and Social Work Practitioners should be able to recognize the struggle and its implications .
References:
Medina, S., & Magnuson, S.. (2009). Motherhood in the 21st Century: Implications for Counselors. Journal of Counseling and Development : JCD, 87(1), 90-97. Retrieved June 8, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1618074111).
Gordan, T., & Lahelma, E. (2004), Who Wants to Be a Woman? Young Women's Reflections on Transitions to Adulthood, Feminist Review., Retrieved June 8, 2011, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3874407
Chodorow, N.J. (2005). Gender on the Modern-Postmodern and Classical-Relational Di... J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 53:1097-1118
Chodorow, N.J. (2000). Reflections on the reproduction of mothering—Twenty Years Later. Studies in Gender and Sexuality, Retrieved June 10 from PEP WEB.
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/finance/2009/August/How-Much-Money-Does-it-Cost-to-Raise-a-Child/
Craig H. Kinsley & Kelly G Lambert, (2008)
N, Schwartzberg., K, Berliner., D., Jacob, (1995 ). Single in a married world. New York: W.&W.Norton & Company .
Chapter 5: Young adulthood : The “not married yet” phase (pp.58-67)
Ammanity & Trentini (2009).
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