Motherhood in the Context of Normative Discourse: Birth Stories of Mothers of Children with Down Syndrome

Abstract

Using birth stories as our object of inquiry, this article examines the ways in which normative discourses about gender, disability and Down syndrome construct the birth stories of three mothers of children with Down syndrome. Their stories are composed of the mothers’ recollections of the first hours after birth as a time when their infants are separated from them and their postpartum needs are ignored. Together, their stories illustrate socio-cultural tropes that position Down syndrome as a dangerous form of the “other” and mothers who give birth to children with Down syndrome as implicated in transgressing cultural norms.