本文探討母親作為醫療資源使用者，在對主流醫療有疑慮時，如何藉由自己的資源與行動，為孩子做出最有利亦符合理念的醫療抉擇。本文聚焦在一群崇尚自然、高文化資本的台灣母親，以源自西方的另類醫療─順勢療法作為育兒照護首選的考量與歷程。透過「另類科學母職」的概念，這篇文章試圖捕捉這群母親穿梭在科學與自然、主流與另類醫療間的母職實作。運用深度訪談與參與式觀察，研究發現，對自然療癒的信念與另類社群的推動力量，是這群母親能夠接觸並認同順勢的重要推力。同時，她們對主流醫學並非採取全然拒絕的態度；相反地，對科學資訊的掌握與詮釋也是促使她們做出另類選擇的重要驅力。值得注意的是，她們的社經位置所帶來的文化、經濟與社會資源，使她們有充分條件運用「另類科學母職」與「順勢為主、西醫為輔」的醫用策略，拿回孩子醫療的主導權，並且極大化成功的可能性─亦即讓孩子復原，同時避開西藥可能的傷害。過去的研究顯示，女性可能透過另類醫療的使用歷程而培力。本研究發現，即使是以母職角色使用另類醫療，女性也能因此對母職更有認同與勝任感，但仍限於個人與社群的層次，對既有性別與醫療體系影響有限。

Th s study addresses the ssue of how mothers (as med cal users) ut l ze the r resources to act and respond when they are d ssat sf ed w th convent onal health care for ch ldren. Focus ng on a group of Ta wanese women w th h gh soc al cap tal and strong preferences for natural l festyles, I explore the r dec s on-mak ng processes for cons der ng “homeopathy,” an alternat ve med cal system, as a top healthcare cho ce for ch ldren. I ntroduce a concept of “alternat ve sc ent f c motherhood” to llustrate the r motherhood journey n wh ch they shuttle back and forth from sc ence to nature, from b omed c ne to complementary and alternat ve med c ne (CAM). Through n-depth nterv ews and part c pant observat on, results of th s study suggest that these mothers’ endorsements of homeopathy come from the r bel efs n natural heal ng and the popular ty of homeopathy n the r aff l ated commun t es. Even so, western med c ne s never abandoned, and the r understand ng and reflect on on modern sc ence and med c ne may rather serve to just fy the r unconvent onal cho ces. Meanwh le, t s mportant to note that n ut l z ng the strategy of “alternat ve sc ent f c motherhood” comb ned w th the act on of “homeopathy f rst, western med c ne second,” these mothers’ relat vely pr v leged soc al status offers many necessary soc al, cultural, and econom c resources, w th wh ch they max m ze chances for success (e.g. ch ldren recover from llness w thout med cat on). Prev ous research nd cates that part c pat ng n CAM empowers women. Th s study further extends prev ous f nd ngs by show ng that motherhood w th CAM can empower women as well. However, the r empowerment s st ll l m ted to the scope of nd v dual or commun ty level, but does not relate to collect ve act on to change healthcare and gender relat ons.