The Identity Shift of Motherhood

When my daughter was three and my son just over a year, I stumbled upon this episode from the podcast Birth Kweens (a new favorite since I had recently been trained as a birth and postpartum doula). I sat outside my daughter's preschool stunned, enlightened, and tearful for what Jessie Harold had described as the transition into 'Matrescense.' This episode answered questions I didn't even know I had about my own journey into motherhood and explained to me why I was still chasing my old self as well as the consequences if I continued. The way she describes western culture's idea of "self-care" was eye opening. A new mother who is encouraged, even barraged, by her friends and mother in law to get a pedicure the first week of postpartum, because she deserves it and deserves a break from the baby, is not self care. This mother will spend that 90 minutes a nervous wreck to get back home to her nursing baby. (I even tried this myself with a postpartum massage that definitely didn't relax me). Ms. Harrold delves deeper into the grieving process of letting our old self go and determines the true transition into motherhood takes 2-3 years. I couldn't agree more and am happy to share this link to Birth Kweens episode #130 here: 

https://www.birthkweens.com/ep-130-the-identify-shift-of-motherhood-with-jessie-harrold-of-mothershift/

Jessie Harrold is the voice of MotherSHIFT, a podcast championing the identity shift we go through as moms and, in my opinion, has made this topic truly academic and inspiring. You can find her podcast here: 

https://www.jessieharrold.com/introducing-the-mothershift-podcast/