Chapter 18: Meanings Through the Transition to Motherhood: Women Before and After Childbirth

Because childbirth is a meaningful life event, it circumscribes important developmental changes in the process of transition to motherhood, which involves the woman, the baby, and the family context. Motherhood is understood as a result of the interplay between two psychological dimensions that cannot be dissociated: one relational (the woman already is, or is going to be someone’s mother) and another autonomous (concerning the personal impact of motherhood on the woman’s own life).

When a woman goes through the transition to motherhood, she has to cope with contradictory demands and roles, as she is supposed to coordinate different roles and spheres of her life, with relevant developmental impact upon self construction. Meaning-making processes are at the heart of this process.