Emerging in Motherhood: Matrescence
Emerging in Motherhood: Matrescence is a podcast about the transformation women go through as they become mothers. Through honest conversations, lived experiences, and expert insights, it explores the neurological, psychological, and social changes of matrescence, including the major identity shifts that come with this season of life. Episodes speak to listeners navigating trying to conceive, pregnancy, early motherhood, balancing career and family, or adjusting to a new stay-at-home lifestyle. The show offers a space to feel seen, supported, and understood, reminding mothers they are not alone. It also aims to normalise the experience of "becoming" and push back against current "bouncing back" culture.
Episodes
014: Matrescence & Postpartum Support: How to Build Your Village with Katerina Annels Part I
In this episode of Emerging in Motherhood: Matrescence, Zana welcomes Katerina Annels — an osteopath, trained lactation consultant and creator of the Nurture Online 7 Sisters program — for a thoughtful conversation about matrescence, postpartum care, maternal wellbeing and why every mother deserves a village.
Katerina shares how her own experiences, including pregnancy loss and becoming a mother,
013: The Emotional Transformation of Motherhood: A Mum's Story of Matrescence, Mental Load, and Finding Her Village
Motherhood doesn’t mean “bouncing back” to who you were before. It can reshape your identity, values, relationships, career, and sense of self - yet many women enter pregnancy with almost no preparation for the emotional transformation ahead. Zana and her guest explore what happens when motherhood collides with emotionally demanding work, invisible mental load, and the pressure to support everyone
012: The Birth of a Mother: Matrescence, Birth Trauma, & Postpartum Mental Health
When You Become a Mother, You’re Born Too
You can prepare for birth, baby’s arrival, and the endless newborn essentials, but how do you prepare for the birth of you? If motherhood has left you anxious, overwhelmed, disconnected, or wondering why nobody warned you about this transformation, this conversation is for you. I speak with Emma from Empower Matrescence, a perinatal mental health nurse, bi
011: When Work Doesn't Fit Anymore: How Motherhood Changes Your Identity, Career, and Values.
Have you been planning your return to work after motherhood, but now feel a little lost about how to actually make it happen?
Perhaps you had the itch to return to work, only to discover that when you did, something didn't quite fit anymore.
Or maybe you're still itching to return to your career, but aren't sure what that should look like now that you're a mother.
Whatever your relationship with w
010: Returning to Work After Maternity Leave, the Skills You Gain in Matrescence & Research Findings that Can Shape Workplace and Systemic Change
Are you on maternity leave or planning your return to work transition? Have you recently returned but feel different, changed, or like you are not performing in the same way?
According to Mothered Magazine’s editor-in-chief, TEDx speaker, author and award-winning workplace culture innovator, Alexa Starks, mums often do feel a difference in their performance - but for the better. If you need the e
009: Becoming a Mother in Canada, Unexpected Pregnancy, Postnatal Depression, and Transitioning into a More Authentic Version of Yourself in Matrescence
Emily joins me from Canada to share her deeply honest journey through an unexpected path into motherhood. Together, we explore matrescence through multiple lenses—from the cultural and societal expectations placed on mothers to the deeply personal pressure so many women carry to become the elusive "good mother."
With remarkable vulnerability, Emily reflects on how motherhood challenged the identit
008: What Every Mother Should Know About Matrescence - BONUS Episode
We prepare women for labour. We prepare them to feed a baby. We prepare them to keep a tiny human alive.
But very few of us are prepared for what happens to us.
In this bonus episode, I explore why understanding matrescence—the profound physical, emotional, psychological and social transition into motherhood—isn't simply empowering. It can be preventative.
When mothers have language for what they'
007: Olivia's Journey of Becoming a Young Mother, Navigating Domestic Violence, Healing, and Finding Herself in Motherhood
How does a woman navigate matrescence when she still feels she is emerging from adolescence into adulthood herself?
Meet Olivia: A woman who speaks of exactly this, but with a few extra difficulties. In her first six months of motherhood, Olivia experienced domestic violence and a relationship breakdown. But after feeling lost in the process of becoming a mother, after feeling like motherhood ecli
006: How to Prepare for Motherhood & Creating a Positive Postpartum Experience: Rhi's Story
Can you prepare for motherhood—and could preparing for matrescence change your postpartum experience?
In this raw and honest episode of The Matrescence Project, Rhi shares her experience of an unplanned pregnancy, the decision to continue with her pregnancy, and the research and preparation she undertook before becoming a mother.
Rather than sugarcoating the transition into motherhood, Rhi explain
005: Why Motherhood Changes Who You Are: The Science Behind Matrescence and the Identity Shift with Dr. Renee White
What if the changes you're experiencing in motherhood aren't a sign that you're "losing yourself"—but evidence that your brain is adapting to one of life's biggest transitions?
In this jam-packed conversation, I'm joined by Dr. Renee White—doula, biochemist, founder of I Fill Your Cup, and host of The Science of Motherhood Podcast—to unpack the fascinating science behind matrescence.
Together, we
004: Traumatic Birth, NICU and Motherhood Without a Village: Cassandra's Story of Healing
What happens when your introduction to motherhood is nothing like you imagined?
In this episode of The Matrescence Project, Cassandra shares her deeply personal story of becoming a mother after a traumatic and emotionally difficult start to motherhood—including fear during pregnancy, premature birth, six weeks in NICU and the experience of navigating motherhood without the support of a village aro
003: Losing Yourself in Motherhood and Finding Who You're Becoming - Zana's Matrescence Journey
Episode 3: My Matrescence Story - Zana's Personal Journey
In this deeply personal episode, host Zana sets aside the research and theory to share her own lived experience of matrescence — the profound transformation a woman undergoes when she becomes a mother.
Zana paints a vivid picture of who she was before children: a psychology graduate raised to value independence and career ambition, living a
002: Why You Feel Different After Having a Baby: Understanding Matrescence
Motherhood changes women deeply — neurologically, psychologically, emotionally, and socially — yet so few of us are ever taught to expect it.
In this episode of The Matrescence Project, I explore the science behind matrescence and the hidden transformation that takes place when a woman becomes a mother. I unpack the wider societal consequences of continuing to undervalue this season of life, and w
001: Motherhood Changes Everything - Introduction to The Matrescence Project
In this introductory episode of The Matrescence Project, we explore what “matrescence” really means and why it’s so important to bring this term into our everyday language.
I'll share the intention behind this project, and what we hope to build over time—a space that supports, informs, and validates the experience of becoming a mother.
Whether you’re a new mum, a seasoned mum, or someone yet to st
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