What makes a modern mum?

Being a first-time mum has always been the same experience through the years – right? Now following research by the Open University a new book explores what it means to be a mother in the 21st century and how it may differ from previous generations.

Making Modern Mothers by Rachel Thomson (OU Professor of Social Research), Dr Mary Jane Kehily (OU Senior Lecturer in Childhood and Youth Studies), Lucy Hadfield (OU postgraduate research student) and freelance researcher and writer Sue Sharpe is the culmination of a five-year study.

It is based on the experiences of first-time mothers themselves and in its nine chapters the authors develop an analysis of motherhood as a changing identity shaped by work and education.

A woman’s transition to motherhood is charted using stories of conception and it explores how pregnancy and motherhood affects the mind, body and relationships.

The book is the culmination of the five-year Making of Motherhood project into the experiences of first time mothers based at the Open University and directed by Professor Thomson and Dr Kehily.

The project was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council as part of the Identities and Social Action programme. The study involved 100 interviews with mothers in the UK and included 12 inter-generational case studies.
 
Dr Kehily said: “This important and timely book asks what it means to be a mother today. The authors present a fascinatingly diverse portrait of modern motherhood as a profound moment of identity change and also a site of socio-economic difference that shapes women’s lives."

Making Modern Mothers is published by The Policy Press, priced £16.99. It can be ordered at 20 per cent discount from their website.