The workshop entitled “On the Path to a Mother-Friendly City: A Holistic Approach from Accessibility to Support Services,” organized under the coordination of Çorum Municipality, was conducted with the participation of Hitit University, public institutions, local authorities, and relevant stakeholders. The event aimed to promote the concept of mother- and child-friendly urban environments. Faculty members of our department, Assoc. Prof. Nevzat Gencer and Res. Asst. Dr. Merve Nur Bozkurt Karalı, participated in the workshop.
In his presentation, “The Psychological Dimensions of Motherhood in Early Childhood: An Evaluation in the Context of Care Labor, Spiritual Burden, and the Search for Meaning,” Assoc. Prof. Gencer emphasized that early childhood constitutes a critical developmental stage for both child development and the maternal experience. He argued that motherhood in this period should not be confined to physical caregiving but should be conceptualized as a multidimensional process encompassing intensive cognitive, emotional, and psychological labor.
Assoc. Prof. Gencer further stated that maternal responsibilities intensify the process of meaning-making and that the lack of adequate social and institutional support mechanisms may increase feelings of isolation, perceptions of inadequacy, and the risk of burnout. In this regard, he underlined that motherhood should be addressed not merely as an individual role but as a phenomenon requiring public and institutional consideration.
Moreover, Assoc. Prof. Gencer highlighted that maternal psychological well-being plays a significant role in children’s emotional security, value formation, and social adjustment. He pointed out the necessity of incorporating the less visible psychological dimensions of motherhood into support services to be developed by local authorities.
It was concluded that the “Mother-Friendly City” framework discussed during the workshop provides an important basis for enhancing the quality of service provision by rendering the psychological burden of motherhood more visible and for developing sustainable policy domains aimed at strengthening maternal psychological resilience.
https://www.iletisim.gov.tr/turkce/yerel_basin/detay/corum-anne-dostu-sehir
https://www.corum.bel.tr/haberler/corum-belediyesi-anne-dostu-sehir-vizyonunu-hayata-geciriyor
