Trauma and Maternal Wellbeing

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue addresses the role of trauma on maternal wellbeing.

The transition to motherhood, known as matrescence, is a dynamic process wherein psychological and sociological changes align with a maternal identity shift. Matrescence expands into the act of birth being a rite of passage, a cultural event, and even considers the historical position of the mother. This definition also includes the postpartum period of maternal adjustment over a year after birth and also includes the maternal role transition that can happen for those who are adoptive mothers and stepmothers. Furthermore, the deeper functions of the maternal role transition include a new term: paturescence. Paturescence emphasizes that this transformation is a more significant life experience and one that accounts for generational motherhood, cultural expectations, and the transformations that happen during birth, which can allude to positive or negative maternal wellbeing. In previous research, the three concepts of becoming a mother, matrescence, and paturescence have all been primarily measured to better understand maternal confidence, self-esteem, commitment to motherhood, flexibility in the maternal role, maternal identity, and grief from the loss of a previous identity, attitudes towards child rearing, birthing experience (to include control over birthing), cultural birthing expectations, maternal transformation, and maternal role strain.

That said, trauma can impact maternal wellbeing as it disrupts these transitional and critical growth points for those who hold maternal identities.

Trauma is the emotional response to a terrible event such as a car accident, natural disaster, or rape. There are acute traumas which result from a single incident, chronic traumas from repeated and prolonged traumatic events such as abuse, and complex traumas when a person is exposed to multiple, varied events. Trauma comes in various forms: physical, psychological, racial, all types of violence, natural disasters and pandemics, historical and/or genocidal, through neglect, and can be generated within various systems (healthcare, carceral, education, etc.).

Trauma experienced by mothers can influence mental and physical health outcomes, maternal morbidity, impact the birth experience, create parenting challenges, delay birth recovery, increase the risk of substance abuse, heighten stress and anxiety, increase suicidal thinking and risk for death by suicide, and can have an intergenerational impact when unaddressed. Maternal morbidity rates in many countries are also of concern and are related to traumatic experiences. As such, research on the complex intersections of traumas in many forms and at many levels and maternal wellbeing are needed to better understand how to intervene during pivotal points of maternal identity growth.

This Special Issue welcomes original research articles (quantitative and qualitative), reflective accounts, and reviews on the role of trauma in maternal wellbeing outcomes.

We welcome contributions from a broad array of disciplines, including psychology, social work, public health, medicine and obstetrics, nursing, and anthropology (among others).

Potential authors are kindly asked to send titles and abstract to December Maxwell, (December.r.maxwell-1@ou.edu).

Dr. December R. Maxwell
Dr. Regina T. Praetorius
Guest Editors

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• maternal mental health
• maternal wellbeing
• trauma
• matrescence
• paturescence