Women’s lived experience of maternal challenges in the urban space

One of the most important influences of modernity has been the expansion of urbanization and the influence of various aspects of life on it. One of these effects is the face of women facing the challenges of being in urban space due to the neglect of their needs and expectations in urban design. Motherhood is one of the most important roles of women and considering the importance of childbearing and the prominent role of mothers in parenting, addressing the challenges that mothers face is an important issue. . In this regard, the present study has studied maternal challenges in urban space with a qualitative method. The target population of the study included mothers living in Tehran who used purposive sampling based on data saturation criteria 15 Some of them have been selected. Data were collected through interviews and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. From the participants’ point of view, maternal challenges in the urban space are divided into 5 main categories: “Inadequacy of the abundance of urban space facilities with the population”, including lack of vehicles, sanitary facilities, spaces and recreational facilities, escalators and grocery stores. Healthy; “Inadequate design of urban facilities and spaces with the needs of mother and child” includes the lack of a suitable place for rest or breastfeeding, lack of play spaces tailored to the needs of different age groups, lack of sanitation suitable for mother and child, lack of safety facilities and space Urban, lack of proper parking lots, unsuitable passages, impossibility to use play equipment in winter and summer, unsuitable space for buses, unsuitable play spaces and child care centers, and unsuitable coloring of the city; “Expensive use of urban space facilities” including the cost of children’s play centers, child care centers and agencies, and telephone taxis; “Urban pollution” includes environmental pollution and audio-visual pollution; And “feeling anxious about being in the city,” including worrying about physical hazards and physical injuries, worrying about how other citizens will interact, and worrying about educational injuries. In general, mothers do not have a satisfactory experience of being in an urban space and do not consider it appropriate for their presence and that of their children. Accordingly, by identifying the existing challenges, solutions to address maternal challenges in the urban space have been proposed.