Transition to parenthood 13 Flashcards
It is common for new parents to experience:
● Increased stress related to learning the role of mother or father, childcare tasks, financial concerns, work-family conflict, and chronic fatigue.
● Decreased satisfaction within their couple relationship.
● Decrease in sexual and intimate activities.
Transition to parenthood is fostered or hampered by many factors, some of which include:
● Age of parents ● Previous life experiences ● How they were parented ● Length and strength of the relationship between partners ● Financial considerations ● Educational levels ● Support systems: ● Desire to be a parent
Expected findings of changing roles to parents
● Parents identify changing roles and are willing to make lifestyle changes to accommodate the changes.
● Parents identify with the parental roles.
● Parents discuss what the roles mean to them.
● Couples incorporate a third person, the infant, into their relationship.
● Couples support each other in mutual caregiving tasks.
The process of “becoming a mother” is influenced by:
● How the woman was parented.
● Her life experiences.
● Her unique characteristics.
● Her cultural beliefs.
● The pregnancy experience.
● The birth experience.
● Support from partner, family, and friends.
● The woman’s willingness to assume the role of mother.
● The infant’s characteristics such as appearance and temperament
Mercer describes four stages through which women progress in “becoming a mother”
● Commitment, attachment, and preparation for an infant during pregnancy
● Acquaintance with and increasing attachment to the infant, learning how to care for the infant, and physical restoration during the early weeks after birth
● Moving toward a new normal during the first 4 months
● Achievement of a maternal identity around 4 months
Factors that can affect the woman’s transition through the maternal phases are:
● Medications- makes mom tired
● Complications during pregnancy, labor and birth, and/or postpartum- shift focus
● Cesarean births- discomfort
● Pain causes a shift of maternal attention
● Preterm infants or infants who experience complications
● Mood disorders
● Lack of support
● Lack of financial resources
● Cultural beliefs, which can influence the woman’s behavior
TAKING-IN PHASE first 24-48 post birth
- The woman is focused on her personal comfort and physical changes.
- The woman relives and speaks of the birth experience.
- The woman adjusts to psychological changes.
- The woman is dependent on others for her and her infant’s immediate needs.
- The woman has a decreased ability to make decisions.
- The woman concentrates on personal physical healing
TAKING-HOLD PHASE
The focus moves from self to the infant.
- The woman begins to be independent.
- The woman has an increased ability to make decisions.
- The woman is interested in the infant’s cues and needs.
- The woman gives up the pregnancy role and initiates taking on the maternal role.
- The woman is eager to learn; it is an excellent time to initiate postpartum teaching.
- The woman begins to like the role of “mother.”
- The woman may have feelings of inadequacy and being overwhelmed.
- The woman needs verbal reassurance that she is meeting her infant’s needs.
- The woman may show signs and symptoms of baby blues and fatigue.
- The woman begins to let more of the outside world in
LETTING-GO PHASE
- Grieving and letting go of old relationship behaviors in favor of new ones.
- Incorporating the infant into her life whereby the baby becomes a separate entity from her.
- Accepting the infant as he or she really is.
- Giving up the fantasy of what it would/could have been.
- Independence returns; may go back to work or school.
- May have feelings of grief, guilt, or anxiety.
- Reconnection/growth in relationship with partner
Factors that influence the man’s transition to fatherhood are:
● Developmental and emotional age.
● Cultural expectations.
● Relationship with his partner.
● Knowledge and understanding of fatherhood.
● Previous experiences as a father.
● The way he was fathered.
● Financial concerns.
● Support from partner, friends, and family.
adolescent parents
more likely to use harsher parenting practices such as yelling and screaming. The children of adolescent parents have more difficulty in acquiring cognitive and language skills and social and emotional skills
same sex parents
no difference between the children of same-sex parents and heterosexual parents.
factors that influence bonding and attachment behaviors are:
● The knowledge base of the couple.
● Past experience with children.
● Maturity and educational levels of the couple.
● Type of extended support system.
● Maternal/paternal expectations of the pregnancy.
● Maternal/paternal expectations of the infant.
● Cultural expectations.
Risks for delayed bonding
● Maternal illness during pregnancy and/or the postpartum period that interferes with the woman’s ability to interact with her infant
● Neonatal illness such as prematurity that necessitates separation of the infant from the parents
● Prolonged or complicated labor and birth that leads to exhaustion for both the woman and her partner
● Fatigue during the postpartum period related to lack of rest and sleep
● Physical discomfort experienced by women postbirth
● Age and developmental age of the woman, such as adolescent or developmentally challenged
● Outside stressors not related to pregnancy or childbirth
PARENT–INFANT CONTACT
Early contact between the parents and their infant fosters the development of attachment and integration of the infant into the maternal and paternal relationship.
