Striving to protect and reconnect: narratives of motherhood in the context of homelessness

Abstract Background Homelessness is a critical determinant of health that disproportionately affects women and children. While adverse health consequences of homelessness are well established, less is known about how mothers sustain care, dignity, and wellbeing under such conditions. Drawing on feminist perspectives and an Inclusion Health framework, the aim was to explore women’s lived experiences of motherhood in the context of homelessness. Methods A qualitative study was conducted using narrative interviews with twelve women in Sweden who had lived experience of homelessness and were mothers of children under eighteen. Participants were recruited through four civil society organisations. Data were analysed using Lindseth and Norberg’s phenomenological–hermeneutic method, involving naïve reading, structural analysis, and comprehensive interpretation. A participatory approach was applied through collaboration with the Women’s Advisory Board for Inclusion Health, comprised of women with lived experience of homelessness, who contributed as co-researchers to study design and interpretation of findings. Results Through our interpretation of the narratives, motherhood was understood as both a source of vulnerability and a moral practice through which women sustained family life amid systemic adversity. Three interrelated themes characterised the women’s experiences. First, mothers encountered fragmented welfare systems that demanded accountability yet offered limited continuity or trust, compelling them to struggle for recognition and care. Second, housing instability and separation from children fractured the women’s sense of identity and belonging, revealing how structural insecurity and stigma disrupted maternal roles. Third, mothers sought to protect and reconnect with their children, demonstrating resilience as a relational process rooted in care, responsibility, and love. Conclusions Motherhood in the context of homelessness is an existential and moral struggle shaped by structural insecurity that constrains mothers’ agency and undermines their credibility. Maternal resilience is revealed not just as personal endurance, but also as a relational process grounded in connection, care, and responsibility. Advancing health equity for mothers experiencing homelessness requires welfare and health systems that prioritise relational trust, continuity of support, and the recognition of lived experience as legitimate knowledge.