Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe and explore how young women participating in a teen mother and child program incorporate the concept of motherhood into their own identities, including the personal and cultural meanings and experiences of motherhood they use to make this identification.
Methods: A purposive sample of nine nulliparous pregnant teens and five staff members from a teen mother and child clinic were interviewed. Additional data were gathered using observation, informal and formal interviews, and field notes. Narrative analysis and the Burkean Pentad were used to analyze these data.
Results: In the personal narratives, from in-depth interviews, the teen mothers told stories of change, in three acts. The three acts are labeled, The Test, The Loss of My Body, and In My Arms. Teen mothers cast themselves as the lead throughout the three acts of their narratives. Teens were cast as supporting cast members by the omnipresent narrator in the Teen Mother and Child Program, the certified nurse-midwives (CNM).
Conclusion: The casting illuminated a disconnect between the clinic and the personal narratives of teen mothers. The implications to nurses and nurse-midwives abound and include the need to understand how teen mothers position themselves in the construction of their own mother identity.
Sigma Membership
Epsilon Phi
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
N/A
Research Approach
N/A
Keywords:
Maternal Identity, Teen Pregnancy, Narrative Analysis
Recommended Citation
Macintosh, Janelle L. B., "The story of teen motherhood identity: A narrative analysis" (2012). INRC (Congress). 39.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2012/presentations_2012/39
Conference Name
23rd International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Brisbane, Australia
Conference Year
2012
Rights Holder
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Acquisition
Proxy-submission
The story of teen motherhood identity: A narrative analysis
Brisbane, Australia
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe and explore how young women participating in a teen mother and child program incorporate the concept of motherhood into their own identities, including the personal and cultural meanings and experiences of motherhood they use to make this identification.
Methods: A purposive sample of nine nulliparous pregnant teens and five staff members from a teen mother and child clinic were interviewed. Additional data were gathered using observation, informal and formal interviews, and field notes. Narrative analysis and the Burkean Pentad were used to analyze these data.
Results: In the personal narratives, from in-depth interviews, the teen mothers told stories of change, in three acts. The three acts are labeled, The Test, The Loss of My Body, and In My Arms. Teen mothers cast themselves as the lead throughout the three acts of their narratives. Teens were cast as supporting cast members by the omnipresent narrator in the Teen Mother and Child Program, the certified nurse-midwives (CNM).
Conclusion: The casting illuminated a disconnect between the clinic and the personal narratives of teen mothers. The implications to nurses and nurse-midwives abound and include the need to understand how teen mothers position themselves in the construction of their own mother identity.