Matrescence: The Sacred Struggle into Motherhood

I started listening to an audiobook called "Matrescence" by Lucy Jones yesterday.

All I gotta say is thank goodness for this book.

Jones shares in the introductory chapter that as she was writing, she noted that the spell check did not recognize the word. Pages marked in jagged red lines with no relevant suggestions for correction. I chuckle as nothing has changed as I write the word here in my post. Jones highlights this as a connection to the oppressive history of medical language that builds the foundation of women's health. The expansion of this exploration is worth the read for anyone wanting to understand the beginnings of modern gynecology.

I learned with a quick search that the word "matrescence", was coined by medical anthropologist Dana Rafael in 1970. (She also made popular the word “doula”, fyi). Matrescence describes the process of an individual's developmental transition into motherhood in a way that doesn't pathologize but recognizes it as a normal growth process akin to adolescence.

Well, it's about time! (Took long enough).

Just like in adolescence however, the process of matrescence is not easy. Just ask any newly postpartum parent. It is a transformative struggle into being. But the struggle itself does not require a psychiatric diagnosis for recognition. It requires societal recognition of its importance for every person engaged in this process, and a shift in values in how we care for families. When this is given then with it will come the prioritization of care for those who are in the deepest severity of the struggle, and at the greatest risk.

Finally, we have a word connected to women's sexual and reproductive health that isn't about being crazy or reproductively defective, yet within it brings the capacity to compassionately care for the real biological, psychological, social, and spiritual vulnerabilities inherent within.

MATRESCENCE.

I came across a couple of really beautiful articles, one written by developmental psychologist Dr. Alexandra Sacks, and a more recent article in the Huffington Post by Kelsey Borrensen that I encourage everyone to read. We need to start understanding perinatal health for women in a more accurate and authentic way. This is a good start.

Check out the articles.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/transition-motherhood-matrescence_l_63bf3275e4b0cbfd55ef26b0

Matrescence: The Developmental Transition to Motherhood | Psychology Today

And of course, Lucy Jones' book.

https://lucyfjones.com/books/