The Experience of Women Who Give Birth to a Child during a Doctoral Program
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Authors
Bridge, Laura
Issue Date
2020
Type
Dissertation
Language
en
Keywords
"Student mother","Qualitative Research","Motherhood","Doctoral student"
Alternative Title
Abstract
This is a qualitative study on the experience of women who give birth to a child during a doctoral program . Student mothers have a unique combination of stress, fueled from school demands as well as motherhood demands. Twelve women who had a baby during their doctoral program participated in a semi-structured interview, and conventional qualitative content analysis was utilized to analyze data. The study found that women experienced multiple benefits from having their child despite the undeniable challenges. The common themes that emerged among the participants' description of their experience included: Finding the right time to grow the family, difficulties faced during the program, forms of support, lack of a sense of support, overall experience, perceived messages, pregnancy policy, pumping and breastfeeding, benefits, and power dynamics. The discussion focused on factors that helped and hindered the experience, how women decided to have a child during their program, recommendations , as well as suggestions for success. Clinical implications and directions for future research are also included.