Caso B: Desarrollo de una BD (Objeto-)Relacional

Table 20. Theme III: Moral discourses

Subtheme Illustrative quote

Autonomy and responsibility

If it’s in moderate you know it is their decision isn’t it. I would never do it but if it was, I don’t feel like it’s right to judge somebody else, especially when they have, that you say health professionals that advise it […] it’s not gonna harm the baby if they have a glass of wine every now and again. If I saw somebody going into an off-licence maybe buying loads of [laughing] like a big bottle of vodka it might be a bit…

English Woman 1

Social norms I did find when I was heavily pregnant, even that one beer. The one beer I was having, because of the attitude of other people. I felt that I couldn’t even have that because I didn’t want to deal with their… condemnation.

English Woman 13

One of the central themes of discourses concerning drinking during pregnancy was the conflict between the women being able to decide about their own bodies, and the rights of the foetus to not be exposed to alcohol; described in the literature as the maternal-foetal conflict (Lupton, 2012; Markens, Browner & Press, 1997). Both discourses were emotive, especially around the rights of the foetus. Ensuring the health of the baby was seen as being part of parent responsibilities, which was discussed among English as well as Swedish parents.

It really sparks something within me. Yeah that you, but the baby can’t choose. They just get it (alcohol) in them. No so I get really annoyed. Now I have never had anyone close who has done that then I would really have told them off [pause] no that is so not okay

Obviously it’s everybody’s personal choice to do that […] but I do think it’s wrong in the sense that if they know that it is putting the child at risk and then they go and carry on doing that then, I probably think that is a bit naughty really

English woman 6

Strong adjectives were used by Swedish parents to discuss women who drink alcohol during pregnancy. Parents described drinking as “disgraceful” or that women who drink were “stupid”. English parents who disagreed with drinking during pregnancy used terms such as it being “naughty” or them feeling “uncomfortable” about it, which in contrast suggests a difference in social norms and how strongly alcohol use during pregnancy is stigmatised. In general, this was a reoccurring theme across the samples; Swedish parents were clearer in that they believed drinking during pregnancy was wrong which was an attitude with little nuance. It was seen as an issue that was black or white - you drink or you abstain; “I think it is disgraceful, but that’s just what I think. I don't think it is [pause] and if you have you chosen to have a child and you get pregnant then you have a responsibility” (Swedish Partner 1).

Among English parents, however, the official drinking guidelines were a reoccurring theme that impacted attitudes towards women’s responsibilities. Parents often felt they could not judge others behaviour as the guidelines in place at the time allowed for some levels of drinking. Therefore, autonomy had a central focus in English parents’ narratives.

(Drinking is a) personal choice, keep it at a lower level. Because it isn’t for very long, but equally I don’t think that it helps women to be public property, when they are pregnant. To disengage their own brains

English Woman 13

While the idea of women deciding for themselves was expressed in the extract above, one Swedish partner had explicit views on whether women have the right to decide. He described it as a political issue of gender equality, where he positioned himself against the idea that women’s drinking during pregnancy was a question of an autonomous decision.

I think the difficult is, like we talked about it is this thing about... what is on the agenda who’s body it is because we are equal so between the man and the woman so it is damn difficult, it is difficult not to bring it up because… where is the limit for autonomy for your own baby […] I don’t think it is that difficult to abstain and if you think it is difficult to abstain when you are pregnant then you have a different problem. That you might need to deal with before you are pregnant. But it’s like if you are to be drinking and stuff when you are pregnant then maybe you shouldn’t have children

Swedish Partner 1

When anecdotes of practices in other countries were mentioned, it was not taken as evidence that prenatal alcohol use would appropriate or acceptable.

You’ve heard that in USA and France and that it can be okay with a glass but it is really taboo in Sweden the way I see it that it is you don’t drink when you are pregnant

Swedish Partner 6

The cultural aspects, relating to differences in alcohol policy in Sweden and England, were also prominent as several women did not even want to go into a liquor store when they were pregnant. Swedish alcohol control policy states that alcohol over 3.5% ABV can only be sold in separate alcohol stores, leading women to feel that other people would presume they had gone in the store to buy alcohol for their own consumption. The perceived stigma was therefore not only related to drinking alcohol beverages in public, but to enter the liquor store with a visible pregnant abdomen.

A few English women described feeling uncomfortable consuming alcohol due to perceived judgement from others, yet the discussions around public opinions were more prominent among Swedish parents. One English woman, who continued to drink during pregnancy, felt that stigmatisation of drinking during pregnancy was related to social class and would be viewed differently depending on what socioeconomic grouping one belongs to and the environment of such groupings. This was also reflected in how English parents talked about acceptable (responsible) drinking when pregnant; most commonly the reference was made to wine. Previous research has suggested that certain drinks, such as

wine, are perceived as more acceptable during pregnancy (Ford, 2013) as wine drinking is perceived to be sophisticated and associated with a higher social class, which is then constructed as less problematic behaviour.

I think there is sort of a taboo, depends on where you go to in terms of socioeconomic situation. Like if you went to like a working man’s pub in a rough area you would probably see women sitting there smoking and drinking. Whereas the places where I am more likely to go would be more sort of middle class and people would be a bit more… looking down at you if you… certainly if you looked like you were drinking to a reasonable level

English Woman 16