DEVELOPMENT OF A SOCIAL SUPPORT NETWORK F OR THE NEW MOTHER - COMPARISON OF WOMEN OF LOW AND MIDDLE SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS

The social support networks of a group of low socio-economic status (S .E.S.) mothers (n=87) and a group of higher S.E.S. mothers (n=44) are described and compared at the 30th week of pregnancy and at the third week after the birth of their first baby. The evolution of the support networks for these two groups of mothers during this period is also e xamined. A modified form of the ASSIS from Barrera has been used to me asure the social support network. Results show that, during pregnancy, the social support network of low-S.E.S. mothers is more restricted t han that of higher S.E.S. mothers. Although the actual number of peopl e around them after the birth of the baby did not increase, low-S.E.S mothers said they felt a slight increase in the number of people avail able to give support in some way. They also reported that conflicts we re more frequent with some of them. For higher S.E.S. mothers, all soc ial network variables remained stable from pregnancy through the first postpartum month.