Exploring resilience and self-care among mothers in Ontario during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study

Introduction During the pandemic governments and public health sectors promoted resilience as a strategy to cope with the socio-economic precarity introduced by COVID, including additional maternal childcare. However, the ways that resilience was operationalized in mothers’ lives is not well understood and neither is the degree to which they cared for themselves. Our study addressed this research gap and contributed novel insights to the pandemic literature about mothering, childcare, and wellness.Methods This article draws upon data from a cross- sectional project with 20 mothers living in Ontario between February and October of 2022. Specifically, it features the insights of 9 participants who talked at length about self-care during semi-structured interviews conducted over Zoom. Data were analyzed using Quirkos software alongside theoretical insights from ecological and feminist scholars.Results Three themes emerged in the women’s self-care narratives: (1) Physical activities/spatial considerations; (2) Emotional vulnerability; and (3) Intensive mothering. Our participants inhabited a spectrum of self-care that included moments of relief, self-surveillance of their mothering, and making sense of who they were while the pandemic unfolded around them.Discussion These findings highlight how spatiality and subjectivity intersected in maternal constructions of resilience and self care during the pandemic. They also reveal the need for gender-responsive policies regarding childcare and self-care that acknowledge the multi-layered complexities of mothers’ lives, especially during times of social upheaval or disaster recovery, both of which are on the rise globally.