SSHRC funding supports three York-led projects on motherhood research

Three separate grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) have been awarded to York University Professor Andrea O’Reilly and will support her research projects in the field of motherhood. O’Reilly is an expert in motherhood research, founder and editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Motherhood Initiative, publisher of Demeter Press, author of 20-plus […]

Lillian Wright Maternal-Child Institute explores research from lab to community

From the lab to community-based research is the theme of the second Lillian Wright Maternal-Child Institute at York University. The one-day institute, organized by Echo’s Chair in Women’s Mental Health Research in partnership with the Faculty of Health, will take place Friday, Sept. 27, from 9am to 4pm, at 280N York Lanes, Keele campus. Lunch […]

Professor Andrea O'Reilly's new anthology challenges motherhood stereotypes

Invisimomibility? Mamazon? If these terms aren’t familiar to you, the concepts should be, according to a new book edited by a York University professor. The 21st Century Motherhood Movement: Mothers Speak Out on Why We Need to Change the World and How to Do It, released this week, is touted as the first anthology of […]

Professor Christine Jonas-Smith premieres film on families living with perinatal loss

York nursing Professor Christine Jonas-Simpson has always been keenly interested in loss and grief, how people experience it and how they integrate it into their lives in a continuing way. It was while doing research on daughters who had lost their mothers to Alzheimer’s disease that Jonas-Simpson experienced what she calls “the deepest loss of my […]

Professor Christine Jonas Simpson transforms son's stillbirth into groundbreaking research

Stillbirths claim more lives each year than HIV-AIDS and malaria combined When Christine Jonas-Simpson’s son Ethan was born, there was an eerie quiet in the delivery room, and then a piercing wail, wrote The Globe and Mail's Andre Picard April 13. “The only cry I heard was my own,” she said somberly. Ethan was dead, […]

New mothers with socially-driven perfectionist tendencies at risk for postpartum depression

New mothers who think they should be perfect parents might be at risk for postpartum depression, a new study suggests, wrote MSNBC.com July 7: The results show that a type of perfectionism in which individuals feel others expect them to be perfect, known as "socially-prescribed perfectionism," is associated with postpartum depression for first-time mothers. The […]

York professors partner with community agencies to find gaps in research and services for teen pregnancy

Until psychology Professor Jennifer Connolly began synthesizing information about teen pregnancy and teen mothers through a ResearchImpact Knowledge Mobilization (KMb) grant, she hadn’t realized that those youth who had dealings with youth protection services or the justice system were at increased risk of pregnancy compared to the general population. The other area of high risk […]

From Roman times to today, covered in one mother of a book

The Romans were celebrating mothers in about 1250 BCE when they began honouring Cybele, the mother goddess. Even so, motherhood throughout the ages has not always been given the respect it deserves. That’s something York women’s studies Professor Andrea O’Reilly knows a little about. She is general editor of the recently released Encyclopedia of Motherhood, a […]

Professor publishes new encyclopedia on motherhood

Professor Andrea O’Reilly's new Encyclopedia of Motherhood attracted media attention this Mother's Day. She was interviewed by CityNews.ca May 7: When Andrea O’Reilly received a call from a publisher expressing interest in an encyclopedia on motherhood, she knew her field of expertise had finally arrived. O’Reilly, a professor in York’s School of Women’s Studies in […]