Abstract
This study is grounded in a deep sense of respect for the work that women do in the family and by a desire to make that work visible so that women can be recognized for the valuable contributions they make to our Canadian society. I have explored the unpaid work that women do while also living with the threat of preterm labour. Women were able to talk about the complex nature of their work and described their many family responsibilities. They also described their fear of going home from the hospital and feeling alone with the responsibility for their work of "keeping the baby" (which included "being careful", continuing self surveillance, suspending their lives, enlisting family/other support for their care work responsibilities, and managing a household). The work these women did while living alongside the "threat" of preterm labour was also affected by the resources available to them for doing this work. These women's accounts suggested the need for further exploration of the kinds of supports that are available in the community. I also explored the assumptions made by health care workers about the availability of family supports and resources for these women. I found that knowledge of the support women need to do their work does not enter into institutional work processes in any sustained way. Rather the needs of women and their families were subordinated to institutional priorities and biomedical discourses as they are practiced by health care providers. Discourses of biomedical risk, institutional safety, cost effectiveness and restructured responsibilities organize the work of childbearing women living with the threat of preterm labour and the work of the nurses, midwives and physicians who care for them. These discourses as practiced have generalizing effects. Awareness of how discourses are reproduced in institutional texts and through institutional work processes creates an opening for change.
Sigma Membership
Xi Eta at-Large
Type
Dissertation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Ethnography
Research Approach
Qualitative Research
Keywords:
Family Responsibilities, Health Risks in Pregnancy, Women's Work
Advisor
Marjorie McIntyre
Second Advisor
Carol Rogers
Degree
PhD
Degree Grantor
University of Calgary
Degree Year
2005
Recommended Citation
MacKinnon, Karen Ann, "The social organization of women's preterm labour experiences" (2020). Dissertations. 445.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/dissertations/445
Rights Holder
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Review Type
None: Degree-based Submission
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2020-08-07
Full Text of Presentation
wf_yes
Description
This dissertation has also been disseminated through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. Dissertation/thesis number: NR05645; ProQuest document ID: 305030667. The author still retains copyright.