Paths to Parenthood: Emotions on the Journey through Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Early Parenting

Description

This interdisciplinary book explores the affective dimensions of becoming a parent, traversing the life-cycle journey of pregnancy, childbirth, and early parenting. Bringing together researchers from sociology, history, feminist studies, cultural studies, general medicine, and psychiatry, Paths to Parenthood analyses rich narratives that represent a diverse cross-section of parents, including migrants, same-sex couples, and single parents. Front Matter ....Pages i-xiii The Complex and Contradictory Emotional Paths to Parenthood (Paula A. Michaels, Renata Kokanović)....Pages 1-17 Front Matter ....Pages 19-19 Postnatural Families: Refiguring Intimacy Through Assisted Reproduction (Camille Nurka)....Pages 21-43 Embodying Pregnancy and Self-Surveillance (Kate Cregan)....Pages 45-67 Pain and Suffering in Labour and Birth (Paula A. Michaels)....Pages 69-92 Front Matter ....Pages 93-93 Same-Sex Attracted Parents’ Emotional Transitions to Parenthood (Ruth McNair, Deborah Dempsey)....Pages 95-118 The Turbulent Emotions of Early Parenthood (Leah Williams Veazey)....Pages 119-143 ‘What Have I Done?’: An Exploration of the Ambivalent, Unimaginable Emotions of New Motherhood (Kate Huppatz)....Pages 145-164 Narrating and Disrupting Postnatal Depression (Meredith Stone, Renata Kokanović)....Pages 165-186 ‘One of the Most Vulnerable Times in Your Life’: Expectations and Emotional Experiences of Support in the Early Postnatal Period (Kate Johnston-Ataata, Renata Kokanović, Paula A. Michaels)....Pages 187-214 Labour After Labour: Negotiating Caring for Children and Paid Work (Charlotte Greenhalgh)....Pages 215-232 Back Matter ....Pages 233-254