Becoming a Mother

Ann Oakley is a pioneer in the field of sociological research. In this reissue of her classic 1981 book, she interviews sixty English women to find out what it’s really like to have a baby. Covering pregnancy, birth, and child care, she shares the stories of how mothers decide whether and why they want to become pregnant, how they imagine motherhood, the experience of birth, post-natal depression, feeding and caring routines, and the challenge of the domestic division of labor. Oakley shows that most women are unprepared for birth or the work of caring for a baby, but are also often just as unprepared for the joys of motherhood. As topical today as when it was first published, From Here to Maternity continues to influence researchers today.