Mothers in same-sex relationships-Striving for equal parenthood: A grounded theory study.
Heléne Appelgren Engström, Elisabet Häggström-Nordin, Catrin Borneskog and 1 others
PMID 31240794WHAT IT FOUND
Two-mother families described wanting both parents called mothers, not partners.
Encounters at child health care often assumed a father, so they asked for networks and support for nonbirth mothers, including breastfeeding.
Key findings
01Mothers aimed for equal parenting by sharing parental leave and household tasks.
02When attending child health care, some mothers were asked about 'the father' or called a partner, which they felt did not recognise them as mothers.
03Mothers asked for child health care help to start same-sex parent networks and for support of nonbirth mothers, including breastfeeding.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study included only 20 Swedish mothers in central Sweden with children around 1 to 3 years, so it may not reflect other countries, family forms, or older children. The findings are a conceptual description, not a theory. Both first-time mothers and mothers with more than one child were included, which could affect how they experienced parenthood and support. The first author conducted and transcribed all interviews, while co-authors coded some transcriptions and discussed categories. Recruitment was through child health care nurses and an LGBTQ family web page.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that child health care services discriminate or that inclusive parental groups improve outcomes. It reports experiences from 20 Swedish mothers and does not test any service change.