Intergenerational experiences of motherhood and child raising: The case of Mardin

This research focuses on women's intergenerational changing experiences of motherhood in the context of pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare. The research aims to explore how intergenerational experiences of motherhood differ. The research is designed as a qualitative-phenomenological study as it focuses on subjective experiences. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with mothers and daughters (grandmother-mother) from two different generations through purposive and snowball sampling, and these interviews were processed in the MAXQDA 24 program and analyzed with thematic data analysis technique. The research was conducted in Mardin province. While traditional social relations continue to exist in Mardin, there is also a rapid social change resulting from the tourism potential. Another factor that makes Mardin a unique site for the research is that it is a border city. There are strong relations with the Syrian society on the other side of the border in areas such as trade and marriage. Therefore, it is noteworthy to understand the differentiation in motherhood experiences in Mardin. At no time in history has social change been as rapid as it is today. Developments in general technology and computer-internet Technologies profoundly impact our daily life practices. The vast majority of what we do in the fields of shopping, education, entertainment, investment, communication, research, and news gathering takes place on digital platforms through screens. In this sense, what distinguishes today's society from hunter-gatherer, agricultural, and industrial societies is that today's society is a digital. As all experiences are affected by this change process, motherhood experiences are also affected. When intergenerational motherhood experiences are compared, it is seen that there are some continuities between the two generations, but there are also some trends of change. Women from the first generation live/experience motherhood within the traditional patriarchal circle of meaning. Women from the second generation, on the other hand, experience motherhood more under the influence of the intense ideology of motherhood constructed through digital media. In addition, many differentiation trends such as digitalization, medicalization, change in parental roles, planning, anxiety level, child-centeredness, new professions related to childcare, and new sources of information about motherhood were observed between the two generations.