| Beschrijving: | What are existential concerns at the beginning of life? How should care at the beginning of life be organized? Every human is brought into the world through the woman’s body, however, there is surprisingly little research conducted on mothers’ perspectives on good care at the beginning of life.
Current care models - understandably - aim at a maximum reduction of risks resulting in the birth of a baby and mother in good health. However, the varieties of experiencing new life, the impact and meaning of carrying a child and nurturing it after birth is undervalued and underthematized in academia and society. This symposium focuses on existential concerns at the beginning of life from the perspectives of those closely involved in the care of new life: mothers, fathers and professional caregivers.
The keynote speaker is Prof. Susan Crowther, professor of midwifery at Robert Gordon University, UK. Prof Crowther has been studying spirituality at the beginning of life from a phenomenological and grounded theory perspective. She is co-author of “Spirituality and childbirth: Meaning and care at the start of life” (2017). The symposium is the first part of a two-piece expert-meeting of a new research project “Concerning maternity: ethical and existential questions at the beginning of life” conducted by Dr. Inge van Nistelrooij & Dr. Joanna Wojtkowiak. |
