“I expect my baby to grow up to be a responsible and caring citizen”: What are expectant parents’ hopes, dreams and expectations for their unborn children?

Abstract

This article explores the hopes and dreams of expectant parents in New Zealand. It presents findings from a sub-sample of 1,000 pregnant women and 644 partners in the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal study, on parents' early hopes, dreams, and expectations for their unborn children. Overall, the parents' hopes and expectations were overwhelmingly positive and fitted well within the six levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. The most predominant needs were both the lower level 'physiological' needs and the higher level 'self-actualisation' needs, suggesting that both the basic physical necessities of life and their child's ability to be able to fulfil his or her individual potential were particularly important. This qualitative exploration lays important groundwork for future analyses and insights into the changing hopes and dreams of New Zealand parents for their children over time.