Navigating vulnerability and resilience: Pregnant women's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic

Tarrabain, Chloe; Pandeli, Jenna; Khan, Mahwish

Abstract

The chapter examines the labelling of pregnant women as vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK, examining its implications and the broader concept of vulnerability. While the labelling aimed to protect pregnant women, it also reinforced gender stereotypes, positioning women as frail and deviant. Vulnerability, often associated with uncertainty and risk, intersects with gender and motherhood, perpetuating inequalities, and power imbalances. The extract critiques the universal categorization of vulnerability, arguing it disempowers women and reinforces traditional gender roles. Based on qualitative data collected from 16 women on maternity leave during the pandemic, it analyses how they navigated the challenges imposed by the pandemic and institutional categorization as vulnerable, highlighting agency and resistance. While pregnant women exhibited agency in resisting vulnerability, their actions also intersected with and sometimes perpetuated existing gender norms. This research contributes to understanding the nuanced dynamics of power, resistance, and resilience among pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Online Publication Date: Mar 4, 2025
• Publication Date: Mar 4, 2025
• Deposit Date: Feb 11, 2025
• Publisher: Routledge
• Book Title: Women, Organizations and Vulnerability Global Archetypes
• Chapter Number: 5
• ISBN: 9781032623191
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/13739590
• Publisher URL: https://www.routledge.com/Women-Organizations-and-Vulnerability-Global-Archetypes/Gaggiotti-Diaz-Carrion/p/book/9781032623191#:~:text=Women's%20vulnerability%20is%20not%20a,organizational%20levels%2C%20but%20not%20both.