by Dr Bronwyn Leigh
What emotional or psychological shifts during pregnancy or early motherhood tend to surprise people the most?
Oh, there are so many! One of the biggest surprises is the sheer scale of the shift that happens when someone becomes a parent. It’s not just physical. It touches almost every part of life. This transition is often described as matrescence for mothers and patrescence for fathers, and many researchers compare its developmental significance to adolescence. It really is that big of a life shift.
While those concepts capture the broad changes, Centre for Perinatal Psychology is particularly interested in the psychological journey that unfolds as women become mothers and men become fathers. Part of this involves what we call the development of a motherhood mindset, or fatherhood mindset. This is the process of gradually coming to see yourself as a parent, while also beginning to understand and relate to your baby as their own little person.
Many parents are surprised by how much their thinking and attention naturally shifts during this time. Suddenly a huge amount of mental space is devoted to the baby and to questions about what it means to be a parent. For some people this feels very natural, while for others it can feel unfamiliar or even unsettling at first. But it is a deeply human part of the transition into parenthood.
About the Author
Dr Bronwyn Leigh is a clinical psychologist, perinatal and infant clinician and early parenting consultant. She is the Director of the Centre for Perinatal Psychology. Bronwyn is an expert in the psychological aspects of becoming a parent, the emotional development of infants, and parent-infant relationships.
