Experiences of Peripartum Depression among Middle-class Chinese Mothers in Urban China and the Netherlands

This research is grounded in (digital) ethnographic fieldwork, offering an in-depth exploration into the dynamics of contemporary motherhood, particularly women’s experiences of peripartum depression. The study places an emphasis on a frequently understudied group: highly educated and seemingly privileged middle-class Chinese mothers residing in urban China, as well as those who have chosen to migrate to the Netherlands. It also examines of the quality of the maternity care provider-woman relationship within the interactions involving midwives and maternity care assistants with middle-class Ch... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Shan, Haiyue
Dokumenttyp: Buch
Erscheinungsdatum: 2024
Schlagwörter: perpripartum depression / middle-class women / Chinese migrant women / motherhood / maternity care / autonomy in shared decision making
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27620883
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/a8cc7e7f-2703-4eb1-8856-bfce7f4b3a84

This research is grounded in (digital) ethnographic fieldwork, offering an in-depth exploration into the dynamics of contemporary motherhood, particularly women’s experiences of peripartum depression. The study places an emphasis on a frequently understudied group: highly educated and seemingly privileged middle-class Chinese mothers residing in urban China, as well as those who have chosen to migrate to the Netherlands. It also examines of the quality of the maternity care provider-woman relationship within the interactions involving midwives and maternity care assistants with middle-class Chinese migrant women in the Netherlands. Chapter 1 aims to define the vulnerability to developing postpartum depression of middle-class migrant women as an intersubjective phenomenon undergoing transformation due to individual's social, cultural, and intergenerational interactions within transnational families. This article specifically focuses on middle-class Chinese migrant women, representing an often-overlooked subgroup within the burgeoning global middle-class migrant populations. Notably, it provides insights the pressures induced by the dominant public discourse of “good” mothering and explores how women who feel compelled to meet the standards of a "good" mother often exhibit lower levels of maternal self-efficacy, leading to heightened stress and anxiety. Chapter 2 is grounded in semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 43 Chinese mothers residing in urban China. This study examines the prevailing mothering paradigm embraced by the majority of middle-class Chinese mothers—termed "scientific mothering" (kexue yu’er). This conceptual framework places a premium on the authority and accountability of modern science, particularly drawing from the perspective of developmental psychology. Implicit in the notion of scientific mothering is the expectation for women to self-sacrifice their individual needs and pursuits for the purpose of fostering high-achieving children. A growing number of middle-class Chinese women find ...