Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood

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It is important to distinguish the natural experiences of matrescence from postpartum depression, which is considered as a psychiatric ailment. After a caterpillar spins itself into a cocoon it dissolves into goo, so that if you were to pierce the cocoon its contents would spill out, but it retains a group of cells known as imaginal discs, one for each body part, and it holds onto its memories. A boundary-pushing book that is more complex and creative, transcending even the ‘part-memoir, part-critical analysis’ genre that has become such a commonplace format for female authors in recent years. And as she obeys the crushing demands from all sides to exclusively breastfeed her baby, whose weight nonetheless begins to fall, she tells us how her flat “smelt of toasted fenugreek” – used to increase milk supply – “and a wisp of fear”.

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In fact, Jones seems to come as close as it’s possible to describing this indescribable moment in a woman’s life.The Green Transition Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. With the help of my students, we also conducted an extensive literature review of all of the scientific studies in the past 25 years, in a variety of disciplines, including psychology, psychiatry, medicine, nursing and others. Understanding the birth of a mother can hopefully allow a more holistic view of this adaptation and with it new fields of study can be born. Once her spiderlings have hatched, the black lace weaver spider – a species native to Europe, smaller than a thumbnail – feeds them with regurgitated fluid and then her own body. I've tried to change that by reviving matrescence to provide a developmental framework for the transition to motherhood.

Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth

And not just because I am in matrescence but because I have a mother, I know many mothers, and I could have been a much better friend and supporter if I would have been taught this stuff 10 years ago. Giving birth is the most natural process in the world, but nature is violent, brutal and strange, awe-inspiring and sometimes awful. Childbirth brings about a series of very dramatic changes in the new mother’s physical being, in her emotional life, in her status within the group, even in her own female identity.How to navigate 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. Our graduate-level courses and certificate program in Reproductive Psychology are the first of their kind. My unique contribution was to extend its application— from anthropology to psychology—to maternal mental health to challenge conventional diagnostic thinking. Because your upbringing is bound to influence your maternal identity, she advises taking the time to really think about the way you were mothered. Matrescence changes the way we support a mother that finally acknowledges the physical, emotional, psychological, cultural and personal changes she goes through.

Matrescence by Lucy Jones review – smashing motherhood myths

In recent years there has been a surge in novels and non-fiction books that grapple with the contradictions and strains of motherhood. To be a mother in 2023 is far, far harder than one might expect – although given the ongoing invisibility of mothers, even to those intending to join their ranks, perhaps there is no expectation at all. And while it can sound like a bad thing at first, it’s simultaneously an amazing opportunity for growth and healing .Complex feelings of ambivalence: The pregnant mother can be happy and at the same time overwhelmed by her situation, experiencing worry, frustration, and fear.

Matrescence by Lucy Jones | Waterstones

Caring for a baby day and night is particularly difficult in that first year but as you get the hang of things and become more confident, you'll start to recognize the person you were and have always been. You may well find yourself raging at the various health professionals depicted: the midwife who cries at one woman’s bedside because she so wanted her to breastfeed, the health visitor who tells Jones “baby needs mummy” when she has the temerity to ask if she can let the baby cry for 30 seconds before picking her up, to see if she self-settles.

The word made me feel so seen and helped make sense of what was going on in my own life outside of parenting,” Williams said. Increased attention to mothers has spurred new findings,from neuroscience to economics, and supports the rationale for a new field of study known as matrescence.