title: Becoming a mother--an analysis of women's experience of early motherhood.
abstract: This paper presents the results of a qualitative study conducted by midwife researchers into women's experience of new motherhood. Data were collected using focus groups involving 55 first-time mothers and analysed using grounded theory method. The analysis produced six categories: 'realizing', 'unready', 'drained', 'aloneness', 'loss' and 'working it out'. The core category, 'becoming a mother', integrates all other categories and encapsulates the process of change experienced by women. Also explained are factors mediating the often distressing experience of becoming a mother. The analysis provides a conceptualization of early motherhood enabling the development of strategies for midwives, nurses and other helping women negotiate this challenge.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing, University of Technology, Sydney/South Eastern Sydney Area Health Service.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Barclay
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Everitt
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rogan
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Schmied
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wyllie
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D005221:Fatigue; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D009517:New South Wales; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012934:Social Isolation; D012944:Social Support