Surviving Teenage Motherhood: Myths and Realities (Studies in Childhood and Youth)

This book explores the experiences of pregnant teenagers, their partners, and midwives, from pregnancy realisation through the early years of motherhood. It examines changing attitudes to female sexuality and moral discourses on adolescent subjectivity especially as these pertain to teenage motherhood. The 'problem' of teenage motherhood remains high on national and international political, policy, public and media agendas. This book examines the experiences of teenage girls themselves, and their significant others, from pregnancy realization through the early years of motherhood, showing that the transmission of childbearing and rearing knowledges and practices, as passed from mothers to daughters, is of central importance. The teenagers' narratives expose, and articulate, recurring themes: their sense of unwantedness and powerlessness, and negative attitudes to adolescent sexuality and reproduction. The roles of midwives and the function of hierarchically organised institutions are revealed and set alongside discourses of choice and control. The empirical research on which this book is based provides another set of lenses through which to examine the interplay of power and personal agency in the lives of pregnant teenagers and young mothers. The book contributes to the sociology of the female body at the convergence of two major life cycle transitions: adolescence and motherhood; the relationship between the body and self-identity is thus foregrounded Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgements......Page 9 Introduction......Page 10 1 Teenage Pregnancy, Motherhood and Family Life......Page 23 2 Introducing the Teenagers and their Significant Others......Page 43 3 How it Happened: Pregnancy Realisation and Disclosure......Page 55 4 Through Pregnancy......Page 84 5 Labour and Birth Narratives......Page 119 6 ‘Chucked in the Deep End’: Mothering in the Early Postnatal Period......Page 146 7 Mothering in Early Childhood: Everyday Practices and Identity Formation......Page 178 8 Looking Back and Looking Forward......Page 211 Bibliography......Page 220 Index......Page 238 'In this timely and original book, Helen Stapleton provides a compelling account of the lives of teenage mothers. She puts the young women centre stage, drawing on interviews and observations to describe their everyday worlds and relationships with parents, partners and health professionals. Surviving Teenage Motherhood is an engaging book, rich in insight for social scientists and for health care providers.' - Professor Hilary Graham, Department of Health Sciences, University of York, UK

This book explores the experiences of pregnant teenagers, their partners, and midwives, from pregnancy realisation through the early years of motherhood. It examines changing attitudes to female sexuality and moral discourses on adolescent subjectivity especially as these pertain to teenage motherhood.