Part 2 - Chapter 11: Adult Parenting PDF

Chapter 11. Early and Middle Adulthood: Parenting Learning Objectives: Early and Middle Adulthood Parenting 1. Explain the “childfree” choice and lifestyle. 2. Summarize the pros and cons of waiting until middle adulthood to birth children. 3. Describe birth in humans and how it d...

Chapter 11. Early and Middle Adulthood: Parenting Learning Objectives: Early and Middle Adulthood Parenting 1. Explain the “childfree” choice and lifestyle. 2. Summarize the pros and cons of waiting until middle adulthood to birth children. 3. Describe birth in humans and how it differs from birth in other hominids. 4. Discuss maternal birth complications and perinatal mental health. 5. Apply biopsychological theory to maternal and paternal behavior. 6. Discuss parenting of children beyond early childhood. 7. Explain parenting styles. When young adults navigate “Intimacy Versus Isolation” successfully they experience the virtue of love and are ready for co-parenting. Remember love does not come without fidelity and fidelity does not come without identity (see Chapter 6). The developmental progression is identity-intimacy-parenting. Ideally parenthood will happen when a person has progressed enough to stop investing a lot of energy in self- development. From the moment of pregnancy, both parents must divert some of their life energy away from self-growth toward investing in the next generation. This is where the role of mother and father are radically different. If the father chooses not to invest, he can deposit his sperm and walk away. If the pregnancy continues the mother’s investment is involuntary to an extent. Humans differ from all other hominins in that if the mother does not want to invest further after the birth, she can give her baby up for adoption. Other adults will gladly take over the job for her and nurture her infant. The giving up of a newborn for adoption does not occur in apes, although occasional adoption of juveniles does occur. The caregiving system in many humans is so strong that caring behavior (altruistic investment in others) is directed toward nonrelatives (Preston, 2013). Men and women can choose to parent young they are not biologically related to, and the experience of parenthood is the same. The choice to parent impacts the rest of a person’s life. Choosing not to Parent Stop a minute and think about whether you believe becoming a parent is something everyone should do or that you should do (if you are not already a parent). Is becoming a parent something that some people should not do? The “motherhood imperative” says that motherhood is a natural and important part of being a woman and that a woman is not complete until she becomes a mother. Whether childlessness is chosen or involuntary, this pronatalist stance leaves childless women having to explain themselves to others. Childless women and their lives are considered by some to be deficient (Hayfield et al., 2019). On the other end of the spectrum are those who believe that only certain women should have children, or the opinion that certain women have too many children. Because humans are so cooperative, the personal choice 187 about parenthood has implications for everyone in society. If people have too many children, we will have a population explosion. If too few people have children, our culture will fade and there will not be enough workers to keep the economy going. Many WEIRD nations are facing problems due to low birth rates (see Declining birth rate in Developed Countries: A radical policy re-think is required from PMC). Far from feeling “childless” many people without children define themselves as “childfree” (Hayfield et al., 2019). Because of the human family those who are childfree don’t have to be fully childfree. Many spend time with nieces, nephews, cousins, or friends’ children. These individuals may consider themselves to have freedom with respect to the parental role in that they can choose when to perform parental duties. People who have biological fertility issues are considered childfree through circumstances. Other childfree individuals choose that path for themselves. Some people have embraced childfree as a social identity. As with other identities “childfree” is changeable to a degree and the identity results from exploration and commitment. The identity of childfree may be especially marginalizing for those who are childfree through circumstances. Identities that make a person different from others or a social norm grab attention most in social situations. Many childfree adults in their 40s find themselves explaining to others “what happened.” Those Who Change Their Minds or Wait Older parents have more maturity and economic stability than do younger parents. However, menopause imposes a timeline on women that is involuntary. Fertility begins to decline after age 30; the decline is steeper between 35 and 40. Age 41 is generally considered to be the point at which fertility stops and sterility starts (Tarlatzis & Zepiridis, 2003). Similarly paternal age over 45 is related to decreased birthrate and disturbed course of pregnancies. Epigenetics of aging sperm increase the frequency of neurocognitive disorders and obesity in offspring (Zitzmann, 2013). Even if fertility into middle age were not a problem, the offspring of older parents face other challenges. We showed you that offspring continue to be interdependent with parents for the entire life of the parents. A child born at age 30 can spend 10 more years of life with their parent than a child born at parental age 40. Young adults continue to benefit from parental guidance and support. A man who fathers a child at 60 would be fortunate to see that child’s 21st birthday. The young adult offspring would likely experience parental bereavement during their critical period for identity development. The loss of the parent at that young age is a stress and brings the loss of material and emotional support for the young person. Illness in older parents might bring similar or even greater costs if the young adult has the responsibility for caring for the aging parent. 188  Giving Birth To the woman He said: "I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; (Genesis 3:16) Birth in humans differs from birth in other hominins three ways: 1) how the fetus passes through the birth canal; 2) the duration and difficulty of birth; and 3) maternal behavior during and after birth― including needing the presence of helpers (Rosenberg, 1992) (Table 10-1). Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Total Orangutan 120 30 150 Gorilla 18-155 1--18 2 21-175 Chimpanzee 120 7 8 135 Humans First Birth 800 57 5 862 Humans Later Births 450 18 5 473 Table 11-1. Duration of birth stages in minutes for hominids (Rosenberg, 1992). Apes are born face up and the fetus does not rotate during the process. Ape mothers can reach their infants when the head presents, pull them out and clear the face of mucous to allow for breathing. In contrast, most human infants are born face down. They also rotate during birth because the top of the birth canal is widest from side to side, whereas the bottom of the birth canal is widest from back to front (Figure 10-1). To get through the fetus must turn so that the head is always oriented front to back with the widest portion of the pelvis. Obstetricians define Seven Cardinal Movements as the series of turns the human fetus makes during birth (see video). Figure 11-1. Diagram of the widest portion of the pelvic inlet (side to side) and the widest portion of the pelvic outlet (front to back) (modified from source). The degree of danger in birth for both mother and fetus is greater for humans that than for other hominins and perhaps any other mammal. The duration of the stages of birth is 189 much longer especially for the first birth (Table 10-1). The baby is born face down and the mother is not positioned well to assist the baby with breathing. Due to this difficulty human women need assistance from others to give birth. Typically, assistance is provided by other women knowledgeable about the birth process. Anthropologists estimate that assisted delivery is at least 500,000 years old (Rosenberg, 1992). The world’s oldest profession may be that of a Doula “a trained professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to their client before, during and shortly after childbirth to help them achieve the healthiest, most satisfying experience possible” (What Is a Doula, 2023). The presence of continuous social support during birth in our modern times reduces the need for― pain medication, oxytocin to augment labor, forceps delivery and Cesarian section (Scott et al., 1999). Why is birth so difficult for humans? Upright walking was an important evolutionary advance for humans. Walking on two feet freed the hands to evolve to make tools. During the evolution of upright walking the pelvis had to change shape and the human pelvis is sexually dimorphic. The male pelvis is better adapted for walking and running. The shape of the female pelvis results from a compromise between being wide enough to give birth and narrow enough to efficiently walk/run. The evolution of the human female pelvis was guided by the “obstetrical dilemma” or the need to balance walking upright with the dimensions required to deliver a baby with a large brain (Rosenberg, 1992). If humans were not so cooperative, birth assistance would not have evolved. Without birth assistance humans could not have evolved such large brains. Age at First Birth and Birth Spacing Species Age at First Birth Interbirth Interval Orangutan 12-15 Years 5.6-9.6 years Gorilla 10 Years 4.0-7.1 years Chimpanzee 15 Years 5.4-6.1 years Human (1900) 22 Years