Social Support Postpartum: Bengali Women from India on Their Coping Experiences following Childbirth

Moumita Gupta, Mahua Patra, Mohammad Hamiduzzaman, Helen McLaren, Emi Patmisari

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Abstract

Undertaken in Kolkata, India, our study aimed to explore the experiences of Bengali middle-class women on perceived stressful events, social support, and coping experiences following childbirth. Becoming a mother following childbirth is a shared phenomenon irrespective of culture, social strata, or country, while stress during the postpartum period or depression is not. Discrete medical intervention does not sufficiently address the complexities of postpartum experiences since influencing factors also include economic, political, cultural, and social backgrounds. Adopting a feminist and phenomenological approach, individual in-person interviews were conducted with twenty women recruited via snowball sampling. Our findings revealed that events experienced as stressful may lead to poor postpartum well-being. Underpinned by gendered discourse and biases, stressful events included familial imperatives for a male child, poor social and emotional support from the family, mostly partners and fathers, and systemic workplace barriers. The women in our study commonly resided with their mothers postpartum. They expressed feeling sheltered from these experiences, cared for, and supported. We discuss the women’s experiences from a feminist pragmatic worldview, which advocates for a flexible feminism recognizant of the unique and nurturing relationship experiences between Bengali middle-class women and their mothers. In conclusion, we advocate for culturally sensitive, women-centered postpartum care practices that may entail the inclusion of intergenerational care during this critical phase of maternal well-being. These insights underscore the necessity of tailoring postpartum support systems to align with the cultural and familial contexts of the individuals they serve.

Original languageEnglish
Article number557
Number of pages15
JournalInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume21
Issue number5
Early online date28 Apr 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2024

Keywords

  • Bengali middle-class
  • lived experience
  • mother–daughter bonding
  • postpartum care
  • social support

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