Childcare responsibilities, maternal well-being, and higher education participation among student mothers in Mogadishu, Somalia: a qualitative study

Background Student mothers combine university study with childcare, household responsibilities, employment, and financial pressures. These overlapping demands may affect emotional well-being, academic participation, and retention, yet evidence from Somalia remains limited. This study explored student mothers’ experiences of combining childcare and higher education in Mogadishu, including the strategies and support that sustained participation and the changes they considered necessary. Methods A qualitative descriptive study was conducted in February 2026 among 11 purposively selected adult student mothers enrolled at two universities in Mogadishu. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and coded by meaning units in MAXQDA. Somali-language segments were analyzed in the original language by the bilingual first author, and only anonymized quotations selected for reporting were translated into English. Themes were generated inductively and interpreted using role conflict theory and an institutional support perspective. Sociodemographic characteristics were summarized descriptively. Results Participants had a median age of 26 years. Four themes were developed: living simultaneous roles, which captured emotional strain, fatigue, participant-reported worry about children, and educational motivation; making participation possible through caregiving knowledge and experience, planning, and informal support; fragile educational continuity created by child illness, time poverty, financial pressure, and uneven caregiver availability; and moving from private coping toward shared responsibility. Participation depended largely on mothers, sisters, husbands, relatives, and peers, whereas participants described formal university support as limited and inconsistent. Conclusions Participants’ accounts suggest that student motherhood in Mogadishu is sustained by substantial invisible care work and informal family support. Universities cannot remove the continuous demands of caregiving, but flexible learning, transparent examination accommodation, and feasible childcare support could reduce avoidable academic disruption. Wider responses should also recognize the gendered social organization of unpaid care and its implications for women’s well-being and educational equity.