World Maternal Mental Health Day

Join us for this very special livestream event to celebrate our mothers and learn about the latest in maternal health and wellbeing. Bring along your partner, a friend, your support crew and sit down for a cuppa to be nourished and recognised for the amazing work you do as a mother. 

Hosted by Sally Cusack from the much loved Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond broadcast/podcast. 
​Brought to you and Produced by Australian maternity advocacy non-profits: Maternity Choices Australia, Safe Motherhood for All, Maternity Consumer Network and PBB Media. Note that video starts at approx 1min.

Matrescence

The process of becoming a mother was first called "Matrescence" by anthropologist Dana Raphael (1926-2016), who also coined the term 'doula' to refer to those who attend a woman during her matrescence. Ms Raphael identified that Western culture has not been attuned to this transition.  Instead of recognising what a woman goes through, after birth all focus shifts to the baby.
The critical transition period which has been missed is Matrescence.  The time of mother-becoming... Giving birth does not automatically make a mother out of a woman... The amount of time it takes to become a mother needs study.
- DANA RAPHAEL, MATRESCENCE, BECOMING A MOTHER, A NEW/OLD RITE DE PASSAGE (1975)
And this period needs support.  Too often new parents are left to the struggle of working it out alone, which leads to postnatal depletion, a condition that lasts years and impacts a mother's ability to "show up to herself, her kids and the world". (Dr Oscar Serrallch)

But take heart, a movement of support is growing across the world to raise awareness of matrescence and to help mothers' transition through it.

At PBB Media, we are part of that movement of support, through information and sharing stories of recovery.  You can find resources below.  And we would love to hear from you too!  If you want to share your story of transition through matrescence, drop us a line at [email protected].

Resources

Writings and information on Matrescence: Recovery from the postnatal period (which can take years without support):Healing from a birth that you are still troubled by:Supportive blog posts from our catalogue:

Podcasts

We have lots of episodes from our catalogue of podcasts covering the postnatal period and surviving motherhood.  Some of our more recent ones are listed below.
And our blog post for this podcast is here.

Videos

TED Talk with Dr Alexandra Sacks:

Things you can do right now

  1. Start with simply acknowledging this period you're going through is momentous and deserving of support.  The fact Western society doesn't consciously provide it is not your fault.
  2. Reach out any way you can, even by simply bundling your baby up and going for a walk outside.  A change of scene always brings relief to a parent and their child, and the effect is immediate.
  3. Think about the ways you can build community around you and take simple steps towards growth in this area. Identifying who is already in your network that can support you, seek out mother pregnancy and parenting support groups, invest in friendships with other families in your community.
  4. Visit your local community services, eg baby health clinic, the library, community centres and check out their noticeboards.  You are likely to find lots of community efforts to support new parents, they can just be a bit hard to find at first.
  5. If you need to talk to someone straight away, call a friend and arrange a cuppa, or:

    And contact us if you would like to share your story with our listeners

Title photo at top of page by Janko Ferlič on Unsplash, image below also via Unsplash.
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. I DISTINGUISH THIS PERIOD OF TRANSITION FROM OTHERS BY TERMING IT MATRESCENCE TO EMPHASIZE THE MOTHER AND TO FOCUS ON HER NEW LIFE STYLE.
​
​- DANA RAPHAEL, THE TENDER GIFT: BREASTFEEDING (1973)
- source: www.matrescence.com