Social Support and Motherhood (Reissue): The Natural History of a Research Project

Drawing on her long experience as an academic researcher and writer, Ann Oakley develops a sociology of the research process itself, telling the story of how a research project is undertaken and what happens during it, to both researchers and those who are researched. This remarkable book focuses on a topic of great importance in the provision of health services – caring and social support. Setting neglect of this topic in the wider context of an ongoing crisis in gendering knowledge, Social support and motherhood is now reissued for a contemporary audience. It has much resonance for social science researchers and others interested in the experiences of mothers, and in the relations between social research, academic knowledge and public policy. Tells the story of a research project, how and why the research came into being and what happened when it did. The book links private troubles to public issues and investigates the connection between social relations and the health and well-being of women and their babies