Bilder av föräldraskap : En studie om hur föräldraskap konstrueras i barnhälsovårdens föräldragrupper

The parental education groups are an activity that attracts the majority of all couples that awaits their first child. Therefore this is a forum with strong influence on the formulation of the parenting. The aim of the study was to examine how parental education within Swedish child health care, affects the construction and shaping of parenthood. We have also studied this from a gender perspective. The starting point for our understanding of parenting is that it is socially constructed. We have used the social constructivism as a comprehensive theory. Furthermore we have used Hirdman´s gender theory to understand the mechanisms that have influence on the construction of man and women in parenting. We have conducted qualitative interview studies with parents and nurses who have participated in, or have experience in leading parent education groups. In these interviews the parents stressed the community with other parents that occurred during the participation in the parent education group, as the most important part of the experience. This strengthens the image of the parent education groups as a forum where parenthood is constructed. During our interviews it also become clear that images of parenting that is being created often is different for men and women. We have also discovered that there seems to occur a conflict between parents expectations of the nurses expertise and the approach which the nurses conveys. The parents seek clear answers in terms of caring for their children, while the nurses try to empower the parents to believe in their own strength and knowledge