Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41650127›Full record

ArticlePloS one2026

"Mother in the making": Motherhood performativity of childless women in rural Pakistan.

Rubeena Slamat, Piet Bracke, Melissa Ceuterick

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Rubeena SlamatDepartment of Sociology, Faculty of Political & Social Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0949-0002
Piet BrackeDepartment of Sociology, Faculty of Political & Social Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Melissa CeuterickDepartment of Sociology, Faculty of Political & Social Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1376-9524

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Motherhood is socially obligatory in rural Punjabi, Pakistan, leaving no room for voluntary childlessness. Women facing conception challenges strive to attain motherhood, combating the stigma of being labelled childless. Using Butler's performativity theory, this study delves into the experiences of childless women striving to become mothers in the pronatalist society of Pakistan. In-depth interviews with childless women and focus group discussions with community members were conducted. The data were analysed using a thematic analysis. Results revealed that women must demonstrate mothering qualities alongside seeking treatment to validate their desire for motherhood. The study concludes that societal discourses shape childless women's lives, influencing their conscious and unconscious adherence to gendered social norms of motherhood.

Indexed as

MothersRural PopulationAdultFemaleFocus GroupsHumansPakistan

Identifiers

PMID41650127
PMCPMC12880684

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.