Too risky for mothering? A study of the maternal identity work of young mothers in relation to discourses of risk, life course and good motherhood

This article explores how young Swedish mothers aged between 13–25 years of age understand and position their maternal identity in relation to discourses of risk, life course, and good motherhood. Drawing on 17 in-depth qualitative interviews, the analysis reveals how perceptions of risk and life trajectory intersected to shape the degree of a mother’s perceived risk, which in turn was described as influencing the conditions under which maternal identity work was performed. A mother’s alignment with, or deviation from, expected life-course trajectories shaped her positioning as low risk, high risk, or too risky for mothering, thereby affecting her access to dominant maternal discourses. Mothers who perceived themselves as low risk were able to engage with all maternal discourses and access a relatively untroubled position within a framework of relaxed, ‘good-enough’ motherhood. In contrast, those who understood themselves as categorised as high risk faced considerable challenges accessing dominant motherhood discourses, resulting in more stressful identity work as they sought to affirm themselves as adequate mothers while resisting the stigmatised identity of the ‘bad mother’. The youngest participants (aged 13–16), deemed too risky for motherhood, were largely excluded from dominant maternal discourses and struggled to claim the maternal role. Nevertheless, these mothers articulated a more autonomous and rebellious maternal identity that both challenged normative expectations and asserted their legitimacy as mothers.