motherhood

“The old me was great,” Chastity said. “But I don’t think she exists anymore.” “Parts of my goals and aspirations changed when I became a mom,” she explained. But she had a new motivation in her life—a baby— and if she hadn’t explored those new interests she couldn’t have grown into who she is now.

It’s okay to grieve for the past you. It’s part of... See more

“Moms can feel lost in motherhood because there is no sense of that individuality anymore. They feel like their identity has been robbed from them,” Chasity said. Our society perpetuates the idea of shelving parts of ourselves, because our children are supposed to come first.

Motherhood has a way of shaping each of us. Every Mom evolves over time. We are challenged to explore depths of ourselves we’ve often avoided and learn the true meaning of unconditional love.

It really helps when the woman has some degree of self or identity developed beforehand—some level of her preparedness for having children. The other part that helps expand women’s identities in motherhood is a supportive environment. They should have people around them who are accepting of their struggles as they try to figure out who they are as... See more

Matrescence. ‘The process of becoming a mother, which anthropologists call “matrescence,” has been largely unexplored in the medical community,’ Sacks writes. ‘Instead of focusing on the woman’s identity transition, more research is focused on how the baby turns out. But a woman’s story, in addition to how her psychology impacts her parenting, is

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