The Process Of Becoming A Mother Has A Name: Matrescence

Life Kit: Parenting

NPR

Kids & Family

4.4 • 634 Ratings

🗓️ 5 August 2021

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Becoming a mother is a huge, complicated life transition that can rock every fiber of a person's being. The process even has its own name: matrescence.

That postpartum feeling of being on an emotional rollercoaster, not recognizing your body in the mirror, thinking that you've lost yourself — it's all part of the process. Yet, not a lot of people talk about it, leading many new moms to think that there's a problem with them if they feel anything but joy.

In this episode, host Grace Bastidas of Parents Latina offers guidance for mothers trying to make sense of this life stage. Here are five takeaways that can help moms-to-be (and moms already in the thick of it) get their footing, including tips on how to manage expectations, get the support you need and prioritize time for yourself.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for NPR and the following message comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
0:05.4	RWJF is a national philanthropy working toward a future where health is no longer a privilege but a right.
0:12.1	Learn more at RWJF.org.
0:15.5	In some cultures, we say a woman has given birth, but here we say a child is born. And with that,
0:24.0	the emphasis gets shifted on the child and away from the mother. This is NPR's Life Kid. I'm Grace
0:29.9	Bastides. Motherhood is hard. It's really hard. I'm the editor of Parents Latina and the host of
0:36.8	That New Mom Life,
0:38.3	a podcast from Parents Magazine that was born to remind moms that they're not alone
0:42.7	as they navigate those first bleary-eyed months with a newborn.
0:46.8	On my show, we give listeners the unfiltered version of motherhood.
0:51.4	I was exhausted all the time.
0:54.1	I think we all have those fantasies of just being able to like keep the same lives we had.
1:01.0	So it was a lot of change and things that I wasn't prepared for because I just assumed I would feel like myself.
1:09.0	It takes a toll on you, you know? It's like the things that people never tell you about.
1:13.0	As a mom of two, I know that those maternal instincts don't kick in the second you hold your infant.
1:18.9	The reality is moms undergo a huge transition that can rock every fiber of your being
1:24.7	and make you question who you are.
1:27.9	That is why today I'm partnering with Life Kit to talk about this shift in identity called,
1:33.5	actually on second thought, I'll give you a clue.
1:36.3	Its name rhymes with another right of passage in human development.
1:40.7	Metrescence like adolescence.
1:43.3	That's Orley Aethan, a reproductive psychologist at Columbia University.
	...

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