Fourth Trimester Podcast Episode 176: What Is Matrescence? Why Becoming a Mother Changes Everything
The first step to creating change is often creating awareness – and by giving the shift into motherhood a name, we are raising awareness about how profound the change is.
Becoming a mother can bring enormous love alongside uncertainty, grief for a former life, identity shifts, and a new mental load. In this episode, Esther and I talk with nurse educator and maternal mental-health researcher Kelsey Green, DNP, about what matrescence means, why it continues as children and families change, and how naming the transition can help parents feel less alone and better able to ask for the support they need.
Matrescence offers a whole-person frame for becoming a mother. It makes room for physical, emotional, social, practical, and identity changes without suggesting that every difficult feeling is a personal failure. It also helps us ask a more useful question: what support does this parent need as her family and sense of self continue to change?
Kelsey brings together her perspective as a nurse educator, maternal mental-health researcher, and mother. We talk about mixed emotions, the mental load families carry, practical care, and why partners and professionals benefit from understanding this transition too.
You can open a world by introducing a word.
Kelsey Green, DNP
Podcast Chapters
00:00 What Is Matrescence?
01:03 Meet Kelsey Green, DNP
06:18 How Naming Matrescence Validated Kelsey
14:14 Where Matrescence Came From
17:07 How the Maternal Brain Changes
27:30 Supporting the Whole Mother
34:35 What Happens After Multiple Children?
39:38 Why Naming Matrescence Is Empowering
43:09 A Definition That Keeps Evolving
45:46 What New Mothers Need to Hear
48:24 Open a World by Introducing a Word
48:56 Couvade and How Partners Change Too
Selected links
Resources Mentioned Dana Raphael, “Matrescence, Becoming a Mother, A ‘New/Old’ Rite de Passage” | Dr. Jodi Pawluski’s maternal-brain resources and Mommy Brain book | “Nine Months of Medical Attention. Then Almost Nothing.” by Sejal Hathi | Kelsey Green
Related Reading Matrescence: On Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Motherhood by Lucy Jones
Learn more Postpartum Identity: Why You’re Not Supposed to Bounce Back | Feeling Like a Different Person After Having a Baby? | The Mental Load of Parenting: Share Responsibilities Without Resentment
Resources FREE DOWNLOAD Customizable Birth Plan | FREE DOWNLOAD Customizable Fourth Trimester Plan | Postpartum Soups and Stews Collection
Connect with Fourth Trimester Facebook | Instagram
Partners Prenatal & Postnatal Vitamins | Every Mother
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The content provided in this article(s) is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical or other professional advice. Neither Sarah Trott nor Fourth Trimester Media Group LLC are liable for claims arising from the use of or reliance on information contained in this article.
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