Bridging home and work in the transition to motherhood - A discursive study

This article examines the relationship between discourses of motherhood and discourses of employment for contemporary middle-class women. Drawing on data from a study of the transition to motherhood conducted in Bristol, UK, it is suggested that there are important continuities as well as conflicts between the discursive construction of these two spheres. In consequence, a variety of relationships may be established between mothering and employment identities. The concept of 'inter-spatiality' is suggested to conceptualize how the women negotiated the relationship between the two. The findings suggest both that women do not necessarily experience conflict between these two sources of identity, and that they may have a degree of agency in negotiating the relationship between these interlocking parts of their lives.