Studies have drawn attention to the vital role mothers have in safeguarding the health and nutritional wellbeing of their children. However, little is known about mothers’ experiences and challenges in fulfilling this role in rapidly urbanizing cities. Hence this study aim to explore the experiences of child care and feeding amongst mothers with children under five years of age in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Thirty-six semi-structured in-depth interviews were carried out with mothers who had children under five years of age. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim in Amharic and translated into English.
Thematic analysis as per Braun and Clark was employed to organize the findings through a theoretical resilience lens. Three major themes were identified:
- Mixed blessings-balancing motherhood’s expectations’; mothers described identifying positively with the social recognition and sense of fulfillment, they experienced. However, in their quest to be a ‘good mother’; which entails expectations of being an ever-present stay at home mother, women were ambivalent with regard to outside work.
- Instabilities due to rampant urban sprawl’- while women expressed a keen desire to balance work and motherhood, the disruption to their surroundings due to large in-migration, market fluctuations and abrupt resettlement to new housing units has eroded these mothers’ social capital leaving them stressed and exhausted.
Anchored by faith’ – in the face of the multiple adversities, mothers cited their strong faith as the anchor that grounds their resilience. The societal changes integral to the upheaval of rapid urbanization make earning income whilst caring for children challenging. Mothers are suffering from exhaustion and feelings of isolation when balancing childcare and working in the face of increasing instabilities associated with urban life.
Efforts to improve child feeding and care in urban areas need to consider context appropriate strategies to support mothers.
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