News
Measuring Motherhood |
| Spokesperson: | Exisle Publishing |
| Date: | Thursday, 29 October 2009 |
| Category: | Women's Health |
| 0 Percent of Australian Mothers Do Not Get Enough Support From Those Close to Them: Australian Researchers to Announce Preliminary Findings of World-First Motherhood Study at ANU Public Forum A new study shows 70 percent of Australian mothers say they do not get enough support from those close to them, and 85 percent of mums report that they do not spend regular, quality ‘couple time’ with their husband/partner. Researchers Dr Angela Huntsman and Jodie Hedley-Ward will present some early findings of their world-first motherhood study, launched in early 2009, at a forum presented by ANU and Shared Spaces Incorporated, alongside popular authors, researchers, dancers and policy makers. Titled “Mothers: Cross-cultural dialogues”, the forum will explore the diversity of mothering today and is open to the public at the Finkel Theatre, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, from 9.30am – 1pm on Monday 2nd November. In 2008, clinical psychologist Dr Angela Huntsman, then lecturing at the University of the Sunshine Coast, met You Sexy Mother author Jodie Hedley-Ward during a girls’ night out. The duo clicked and the Motherhood Study was born. “Jodie’s book really grappled with how mothers lose their sense of self in their child,” explains Dr Huntsman. “At the same time, you have to be a sexy mummy and look great in a swimsuit. There are all these social pressures to be something you’re not.” The Motherhood Study, which includes over 4,000 mothers from Australia and New Zealand (the pair hope to begin research in the U.S. and U.K. next year), explores the hypothesis that mums today suffer from a lack of “organismic psychological needs” – autonomy, competence and relatedness – due to tension between innate love for their child and misleading external pressures. To gauge the levels of these needs, Huntsman and Hedley-Ward have drafted a 112-point survey asking questions like, “How close are your relatives?” and “Are there older women in your life helping you?” A lack of support is proving a common thread in the early analysis of data, with 70 percent of mums saying they do not get enough support from those close to them. Combine this with over 50 percent of mums saying they do not have any close family nearby, and 68 percent of them living away from their hometown, and it’s easy to see potential danger. With only 13 percent of mums reporting that they spend regular, quality ‘couple time’ with their husband/partner, intimate relationships are another key focus within the study. “Husbands are telling us, ‘You don’t know how good answering these questions has been for my wife,’” Huntsman notes. “We’re asking the questions that seem to matter the most; questions their doctors, husbands and friends aren’t asking.” “The goal is to let mothers feel what they feel without feeling guilty and to take away this notion that they have to be perfect,” Dr Huntsman concludes. “Average is so beautiful.” The Motherhood Study is open to all Australian and New Zealand women over the age of 18, and can be accessed via www.motherhoodstudy.net up until the end of November 2009. For media enquiries please contact Tahnee McCrossin: 0401 260 423 02 4998 3327 tahnee@exislepublishing.com |
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