I could go on and on about this book but I really just think you should read it. New and aspiring moms should read it to supplement their NCT classes and round out their expectations of the next few years. All men should read it to give them an understanding of what their wives, mothers, sisters, co-workers, the woman serving him in a shop, are going through or have gone through, and the part they can play on a practical level to redress some of the societal imbalances that have crept into being. I think we might all become just a little more compassionate after reading it. Wow. "Matrescence" is essential reading for - well, everyone. Parenting - especially motherhood - and care in general are so underrated and misunderstood socially that those on the outside are not able to see their immense value and all the sacrifices they require, and those within feel like they are failing if they don't revel in all aspects of parenthood or care or struggle at times. Matrescence has since been mainstreamed from academia to the general public, traveled globally, and continues to be amplified by many more voices. Now anyone can learn the concept and welcome the whole spectrum of experience from stress to wellness---the possibility of resilience and even flourishing while mothering! Stern DN, Bruschweiler-Stern N, Freeland A. The birth of a mother: How the motherhood experience changes you forever. New York: Basic Books; 1998. To read this book – and I very much hope its audience is not confined to women who are about to or have recently given birth – is to emerge chastened and ready for change. Anger is not an emotion we expect from mothers. But, as Jones says, good anger is necessary. Let us hold on to that.

The Birth of a Mother - The New York Times The Birth of a Mother - The New York Times

Jones writes beautifully with searing honesty about life-changing physical and emotional impact of having a child.” —Rachel Sylvester, The Times (UK)Mattrescence is an anthropological term, referring to the process of becoming a mother. Motherhood transforms a woman biologically and emotionally. It alters her social status, her identity and her relationships, and redirects the focus of her days. It is perhaps the most profound metamorphosis most women will go through and yet, Jones observes, this process remains largely overlooked in our culture and by science. You will not even find the word matrescence in the dictionary. We recognise that adolescence, another period of rapid physical and emotional change, can be painful and awkward, and yet expect women to slip effortlessly into their new roles and their new bodies. The first step is to start talking about this metamorphosis, the highs and lows and growing pains. The newest emerging theory,Reproductive Identity,debutedin the June 2020 Special issue of the American Psychologist — Rethinking Adult Development: New Ideas for New Times. It is difficult to put into words the importance of this book. I felt it in my heart. I carried it with me, I think I always will. Jones has written the book we desperately needed. Daisy Johnson A beautiful contemplation of the extraordinary yet ordinary metamorphosis that adult humans undergo as they become mothers ... I was entranced ... Matrescence is a passionate and powerful maternal roar for change Gaia Vince

Matrescence by Lucy Jones review – the birth of a mother

Which is indicative of the need for journalist and prize-winning nature writer Lucy Jones‘ book, an ambitious, wide-ranging work that is at once memoir, analysis and social study. Matrescence, Jones tells us, is as significant as adolescence. Yet the permitted language of motherhood – phrases like, “feeling a bit tired” and, “the baby blues” – does nothing but diminish the experience. Having internalised society’s message that motherhood must be kept separate from the colleagues and employers, that it is “mindless and unintellectual”, Jones found herself subject to an increasing sense of alienation. ”I had always believed in the power of words,” she says. “But here, they failed me.” You'll marvel, wince and want to take to the streets after reading Lucy Jones sweeping and courageous multidisciplinary survey of the motherlands. I wish we'd read it before we had our kid. (Mother) nature read in truth and awe - Tom Mustill Jones is known primarily as a science and nature writer (her first book was about foxes and her most recent, Losing Eden, looked at the human need for wild spaces) and I’ll confess I sighed slightly when I waded through an opening section about slime mould, though no doubt this will reassure readers of her other work that Matrescence is not a complete departure. Subsequent chapters begin with similar passages, which, Jones writes, attempt to show that natural change is not always beautiful. Initially I felt they jarred with the body of the work, which follows Jones’s journey into motherhood and is divided according to a series of themes, including birth, the brain, sleep and society. Never before has my actual experience of early motherhood been articulated with such clarity and honesty. I believe that many moms will feel seen and heard in their motherhood journey in a way that previously has only been ‘allowed’ to be expressed using humor. It seems to be a new concept for the raw reality of motherhood to be expressed as a serious topic. During my years in Clinical Psychology, I was unable to find good explanatory models for the psychological transition to motherhood. I set out to find out everything I could from each related field from spirituality to cultural anthropology. With the help of my students, we also conducted an extensive literature review of all of the scientific studies in the past 25 years, in a variety of disciplines, including psychology, psychiatry, medicine, nursing and others. This revealed a strange neglect of focus on mothers themselves without the impact on their children, and the vast majority spoke about their risk for illness with few other positive perspectives.A beautiful, intelligent book that is as tender and moving as it is demanding and urgent. There is something insightful and original in the way Lucy Jones seamlessly combines the analytical with the emotional, and it is an absolutely essential new addition to the literature of mothering and parenthood Clover Stroud Recognizing changing family dynamics: The birth creates a new family. New possibilities for intimate connections as well as new stresses may have to be dealt with in relationships with the partner, family, and friends.

Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth

Scientists are also only now discovering how profoundly and permanently pregnancy changes a mother’s physiology: scans show that a mother’s brain is structurally different from the brain of someone who hasn’t borne a child. Multiple parts of the brain’s grey matter shrink, but this isn’t evidence of “baby brain” – memory loss and mental deterioration – but rather, scientists suggest, evidence of fine-tuned connections and enhanced efficiency in areas associated with caregiving and attachment. The changes are not driven solely by biology but are also a product of parenting: men’s brains also change after parenthood, as do the brains of non-biological mothers. Crafting a vision for the kind of mother you want to be requires thoughtful planning. Woodcox Bolden suggests creating a family mission statement to define your family's goals and values. This exercise is especially helpful for couples, considering research shows that relationship satisfaction declines after a child comes into the picture. A wild and beautiful book ... a book that will be passed among friends and will no doubt bring solace ... Reading this, I felt a jolt of recognition ... more than six years later I can still feel the searing, silencing shame. I wish someone could have handed me Matrescence Sophie McBain, New StatesmanPurchasing a book may earn the NS a commission from Bookshop.org, who support independent bookshops I was challenged, comforted, educated and nourished by this book ... It is the single most powerful, life-changing, heartachingly healing thing I have been given ... The kind of book we must ensure every one of us reads Kerri ní Dochartaigh