title: Sharing bodies: the impact of the biomedical model of pregnancy on women's embodied experiences of the transition to motherhood.
abstract: This paper explores how a medicalized view of pregnancy shapes the process of pregnant embodiment and women's experiences postpartum. Analyzing interviews with 42 pregnant women and new mothers, I show that while women's experiences of pregnant embodiment are shaped by biomedical notions of pregnancy, women also bring new meaning to the biomedical guidelines. Women view pregnancy as a process of sharing their bodies with their children, and they continue to share their bodies with their newborns during the postpartum period. I conclude the paper by reflecting on the role of the body in shaping our understanding of medicalized phenomena.
authors.affiliation: Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Neiterman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D062528:Medicalization; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000523:psychology; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult