ABSTRACT

This chapter provides some definitions of motherhood and focuses on the transition to the state of motherhood. It discusses the antenatal literature that considers women's views about their future role change during pregnancy. Three theorists have described the process from different perspectives at different times so that a behaviourist model and a social model of feelings involved in the process can be presented. The chapter examines some postnatal issues, including role conflict and the effects that occur when the transition to motherhood appears to be incomplete. An aspect of the midwife's role in the transition process is to engage fully with the notion that each pregnancy is unique and allow the woman to develop her own frame of reference for care. Some women have portrayed breastfeeding as a crucial part of maternal identity and as being representative of good mothering.