Often referred to as the transition to motherhood, matrescence is also the continous transitions throughout motherhood. We like to think of these as waves of matrescence. A mother experiences ongoing transitions alongside her child’s developmental milestones.

Matrescence is a normal developmental transition. Matrescence encompasses the broad range of changes that occur throughout a mothers life. It impacts all domains of a mothers life, such as changing her biology, relationships, identity, neurology, spirituality and psychology. A mothers matrescence experience is also impacted by motherhood, society, culture and policies.

Our understanding of matrescence is informed by the work and research of Dr Dr. Aurélie Athan.

Motherhood can be so deeply beautiful and at the same time devastatingly brutal. Sometimes it is difficult to express and identify exactly why…Matrescence provides the language that enables us to communicate these challenges while validating, normalizing and creating an awareness of the changes that take place.

Matrescence, first coined in 1973 by Dana Raphel, has since been revived around 2008 by clinical psychologist Dr Aurélie Athan and bought to the limelight by psychiatrist Dr Alexandra Sacks. Matrescence is recently becoming popularised in 2026 by Peanut, as they launched a campaign to get matrescence acknowledged in the dictionary, by taking out an advert in the New York Times.