Drug use and motherhood: strategies for managing identity

Interviews with pregnant substance misusing women and women who had given birth in the previous two years suggest that they are engaged in a process of managing spoiled identities in order to present themselves as committed and motivated mothers. The work they engage in involves presenting themselves as regulated consumers by keeping to substitute prescribing regimes, keeping appointments with a multitude of agencies and aligning themselves with a normalised discourse of motherhood. Interview accounts emphasise the importance of caring networks in personal lives and in the service with which they are engaging.