ABSTRACT

There were many questions to be examined: What are the experiences of women during pregnancy? How do women react to the process of childbirth? Do women really have a choice of

having or not having a child? What kind of family and sociopsychological pressures do they experience? In what way is motherhood infl uenced by their different family backgrounds? How did the character of a particular family affect meaning and experience? Were mothers of daughters discriminated against? How did this affect their attitude towards motherhood? What did women feel about control of their fertility by the family unit? How do women feel about infertility and the choices offered by many new reproductive technologies? What are the experiences of women regarding management of labour, medical monitoring and attitudes of doctors towards the process of childbirth?