Maternal knowledge and professional knowledge: Co-operation and conflict in the care of sick children

Although it is common-place to describe mothers as 'experts' about their own children there has been little examination of the nature of mothers' expertise in the assessment of their sick children. In this paper mothers' accounts of occasions when they believed that they knew that their children were unwell are reported. Mothers also described how it could be difficult to convince health professionals that their concerns were justified. These accounts were obtained during a qualitative study of the experiences of parents of 24 children hospitalised on a surgical ward. The nature of maternal and professional knowledge is considered and it is suggested that conflicts arise from the different nature of maternal knowledge, which develops in the 'private' domain of intimate contact and professional knowledge which is based in the 'public' domain of the world of work. These differences are illustrated by problems experienced by mothers and nurses in the integration of their different knowledge in assessments of children's pain. Implications for practitioners involved in the care of sick children are considered. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.