Mothers' Experience with Household Roles and Social Support During the First Postpartum Year

This prospective, longitudinal study was conducted to investigate the changes in the division of household labor, and in the emotional and practical support received by new mothers during the first postpartum year. Questionnaires were completed by 436 married, recently employed mothers at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after they had delivered their first child. Results showed that women assumed primary responsibility for the majority of household tasks studied, and that they perceived declines over time in their husbands' participation in household chores, their husbands' and others' expressions of caring, and in the frequency with which friends and relatives "helped out" during the year. Women who had had cesarean sections (versus those with vaginal deliveries) and who returned to work (versus those who stayed home) believed their husbands participated more in traditionally feminine household chores. Women's satisfaction with their husbands' contribution to household activities was significantly related to their own mental health, delivery type (cesarean section), job status (being at home vs. back at work), and family income; and to their husbands' occupation, expressions of caring, and participation in child care and certain household chores (house cleaning, grocery shopping, cooking, washing clothes and dishes, household repairs, car maintenance, and garbage removal). Overall, these findings showed diminishing levels of emotional and practical support for women at a time when the need for support was likely greater: following the birth of their first child.