Digital dialogues of care: discursive identity construction and support-seeking by migrant pregnant women in Australian Facebook groups

Abstract

This study explores how first-generation migrant pregnant women in Australia use Facebook groups as digital spaces for identity negotiation and support during the perinatal period. Drawing on a netnographic analysis of two Facebook groups and in-depth interviews with 10 participants, the research conceptualizes social media use through the lens of Uses and Gratifications (U&G) theory. Unlike traditional U&G frameworks that emphasize entertainment or escapism, this study identifies five distinctive gratifications specific to pregnant migrant women and their use of Facebook pregnancy groups: information seeking, surveillance and negotiation, connectivity, communication utility, and catharsis. These gratifications are shown to be deeply intertwined with the users’ experiences of navigating healthcare systems, cultural dislocation, and identity transformation. Importantly, the findings reveal that social media serves not only as a practical tool for advice and information, but also as a discursive and affective space where women challenge dominant maternal norms, negotiate stigmatized topics such as abortion and miscarriage, and construct collective meanings around motherhood. In doing so, the study extends U&G theory by demonstrating how gratifications are shaped by users’ reproductive status, migrant identities, and stage of motherhood. It contributes to scholarship on digital maternal practices by reframing Facebook pregnancy pages not merely as a parenting resource but as a perinatal site of emotional labor, social validation, and ideological negotiation.