Graduate Theses
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- ItemBreastfeeding Self-efficacy among Newcomer Mothers of African Descent in Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia(Mount Saint Vincent University, 2026-07) Oladipupo, Olayemi DeborahImmigrant women in Canada generally report high rates of breastfeeding initiation, with these rates declining with longer stay in Canada. Several factors have been identified as predictors of breastfeeding initiation, exclusivity, and duration, with Breastfeeding self-efficacy (BFSE) contributing significantly. There is however, limited research on factors that influence breastfeeding among immigrant women. Even less explored, is how BFSE is experienced, negotiated, and sustained among newcomer mothers of African descent (NCMAD), particularly within Atlantic Canada. This study explored the breastfeeding self-efficacy experiences of NCMAD living in Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), as well as the structural factors that influence breastfeeding confidence among these mothers, within the context of migration and settlement. Guided by Dennis's Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Theory and the Socio-Ecological Model, this study employed a qualitative descriptive design. Data were collected through 10 in-depth interviews and two focus group discussions involving seven newcomer mothers of African descent who had breastfed within the previous two years. Data were analysed using a hybrid deductive-inductive reflexive thematic analysis involving transcript familiarization, manual coding, and iterative theme development to identify patterns across participants' lived experiences. Findings indicate that BFSE was a dynamic, context-dependent process shaped by mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, social persuasion, and emotional and physiological states. All participants initiated breastfeeding with strong prenatal intentions and high early confidence, largely influenced by culturally embedded beliefs that positioned breastfeeding as natural, expected, and central to maternal identity. Factors that strengthened BFSE included successful breastfeeding experiences, culturally transmitted breastfeeding knowledge, observational learning from family members and peers, emotional encouragement from partners and mothers, support from healthcare providers, adaptive coping strategies, and enabling structural conditions such as maternity leave. Traditional postpartum practices and intergenerational breastfeeding knowledge further reinforced confidence and breastfeeding continuation. In contrast, BFSE was challenged by migration-related disruptions in family support networks, breastfeeding difficulties, fatigue, emotional stress, return to work or school, caregiving demands, and limited access to culturally responsive support. Although most mothers aspired to practice exclusive and extended breastfeeding, continuation was influenced more by structural and environmental conditions, including return to work or school and reduced mother-infant proximity, rather than by low breastfeeding confidence alone. Overall, BFSE emerged as a multidimensional construct coproduced through individual experiences, interpersonal relationships, cultural influences, and broader social and policy environments. The findings highlight the need for culturally responsive breastfeeding support within healthcare and community settings, strengthened peer-support networks for newcomer mothers, and policies that facilitate breastfeeding continuation through flexible work and study arrangements, breastfeeding-friendly environments, and supports that promote mother-infant proximity. Nova Scotia Health, healthcare providers, community organizations, and policymakers should collaborate to develop inclusive breastfeeding interventions that recognize the influence of cultural, social, and structural factors on breastfeeding confidence. By centring the experiences of African newcomer mothers, this study contributes to addressing gaps in Canadian breastfeeding research and provides evidence to support equitable maternal and child health programming in Nova Scotia and other immigrant-receiving contexts
- ItemCortés Monroy, María José A.(Mount Saint Vincent University, 2026-06) A Situated Critique of Anglo-North American Femist Discourses on MotherhoodAnglo-North American Motherhood Studies and matricentric feminism have been central to legitimizing motherhood as a site of feminist inquiry. Yet their theoretical frameworks remain shaped by specific historical, geopolitical, linguistic, and epistemic conditions that privilege Anglophone, Global North maternal experiences. This study advances a feminist decolonial critique of these frameworks by foregrounding coloniality as constitutive of feminist knowledge production on motherhood. Drawing on decolonial feminist thought from Abya Yala, it examines how universalizing claims obscure the racialized, colonial, and migratory conditions that shape maternal lives across the Global South. Through critical textual and discursive analysis, it demonstrates that the marginalization of Latin American and Caribbean feminist genealogies is not incidental but structural. The study calls for a hemispheric, plurilingual reorientation of the field that challenges epistemic authority and repositions Abya Yala feminist thought as central to the theorization of motherhood.
- ItemPatient Satisfaction and Knowledge Following Gestational Diabetes Online Education in Atlantic Canada(Mount Saint Vincent University, 2026-06) LeBlanc, JulianneThe rising Gestational Diabetes (GD) prevalence has strained the capacity of Atlantic Canada’s largest Diabetes in Pregnancy clinic. Preliminary semi-formal interviews with clinic dietitians revealed perceptions that glycemic index (GI) education was not integrated fully in GD standard care in alignment with Diabetes Canada Clinical Practice Guidelines recommendations (2018). Despite this potential gap, their transition to ‘home-based’ online follow-ups had reduced workload compared to in-person visits. However, the unanticipated full shift to online education amid the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 raised concerns about the quality and effectiveness of care in the absence of in-person interactions.
- ItemTransnational Motherhood and the Challenges of Grandparenting(Mount Saint Vincent University, 2026-05) Emaikwu, EneThis thesis examines the lived experiences of Nigerian transnational mothers living in Canada whose children remain in Nigeria under the primary care of grandmothers. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with five Nigerian mothers who had at least one child residing with a grandmother in Nigeria. Guided by transnationalism and attachment theories, the study explores how these mothers understand and enact motherhood across borders, maintain emotional bonds with children, and interpret grandmothers’ caregiving roles within broader migration projects. Analysis generated three overarching themes: experiencing and making sense of motherhood across distance; emotional bonds, guilt, and cultural expectations; and caregiving arrangements, relationships, and safety. The findings show that motherhood is not suspended by migration but reorganized into a transnational, technologically mediated practice, as mothers structure daily life in Canada around children’s routines in Nigeria and use phones, messaging apps, and, in some cases, surveillance technologies to sustain connection and oversight. Mothers navigate significant emotional labour and moral scrutiny, drawing on faith, future-oriented narratives, and selective engagement with Nigerian and Canadian parenting norms to “give themselves grace” in the face of ambiguous loss and shifting attachment relationships. The study also foregrounds grandmothers as everyday mothers in a risky context, highlighting their extensive caregiving work, health strains, and central role in sustaining family life amid concerns about children’s safety and Nigeria’s social conditions. By centring Nigerian mothers’ perspectives in a Nigeria–Canada context, this thesis extends scholarship on transnational motherhood, attachment, ambiguous loss, and intergenerational care. It underscores the need for policies and supports that recognize the emotional, temporal, and intergenerational work involved when mothers care “in two places at once,” including services that attend to the wellbeing of both migrant mothers and the older women who raise their children.
- ItemIs Nova Scotia shifting from a risk-based to a child well-being system? A critical content analysis of the child and family well-being practice framework in Nova Scotia(Mount Saint Vincent University, 2026-05) Wokoma, Orinari FrancisThe child welfare policy landscape in Nova Scotia has been subjected to significant criticisms for its reliance on risk-based protectionist paradigms. In response, the provincial government introduced the Child and Family Well-being Practice Framework (CFW, 2025) as a shift towards a holistic well-being practice. This study adopts a two-pronged design. First, a scoping review that synthesizes peer-reviewed and grey literature from 2014-2026, to better understand the discursive orientations shaping contemporary child welfare policies and practices in Nova Scotia. Second, a qualitative document-based analysis that critically examines the CFW (2025) practice framework and its policy manual to assess the extent to which it represents a substantive paradigm shift from a risk-based approach to a holistic child well-being paradigm. Using interpretive critical content analysis, the study examines if the CFW (2025) reflects a paradigm shift that prioritizes child’s rights and wellness. Research findings are categorized into three interrelated dimensions: structural (legislative governance), procedural (culturally responsive practice), and systemic (governance and child and family well-being). The analysis reveals that the CFW (2025) and its policy manual reflects a hybrid governance model characterized by a partial paradigm shift in Nova Scotia’s child welfare system. The shift towards a holistic well-being paradigm is constrained by the embedded legislative authority and risk-based governance structure. The study concludes that achieving a substantive transition from a risk-based child protection model to a culturally responsive child and family well-being approach requires structural and legislative reform of the child welfare system, alongside alignment between policy discourse, institutional practice, and legislative frameworks in Nova Scotia.