Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Psychosocial Adaptation to Pregnancy pp 57–86Cite as

Identification with a Motherhood Role

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

  • 1143 Accesses

Abstract

The developmental step of the woman-without-child to the woman-with-child is the goal of identification with a motherhood role. Achievement of this identification can be thought of as a process of unfolding characterized by progressive emphasis in the mother’s thinking away from the single self and toward the mother–baby unit, and ultimately toward recognizing the separateness and individuality of the coming child (Lederman, 1984; Trad, 1991). Identification with a motherhood role also refers to the mother’s attachment orientation and reflective functioning or the capacity to understand the nature of her own patterns of thinking or mental states, as well as those of the developing fetus-baby and newborn infant (Condon & Corkindale, 1997; Haedt & Keel, 2007; Slade, Grienenberger, Bernbach, Levy, & Locker, 2005).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alhusen, J. L. (2008). A literature update on maternal-fetal attachment. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing, 37, 315–328.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Arbeit, S. A. (1976). A study of women during their first pregnancy (Master’s thesis, Yale University, 1975). Dissertation Abstracts International, 36, 6367B-6368B. (University Microfilms No. 76-12, 745).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ard, L. D. C. (2000). Adolescent prenatal attachment, psychosocial development, and parental bonding: Is there a relationship? Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences & Engineering, 60(10-B), 5049.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker, A. A. (1966). Psychiatric disorders in obstetrics. Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ballou, J. (1978). The psychology of pregnancy. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breen, D. (1975). The birth of a first child. London: Tavistock.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caplan, G. (1959). Concepts of mental health and consultation. Washington, DC: Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chodorow, N. (1978). The reproduction of mothering. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chojnacke, S. (1976). Preparation for motherhood: A comparison of high risk and low risk pregnant women. Unpublished Master’s thesis, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

    Google Scholar 

  • Colpin, H., De Munter, A., Nys, K., & Vandemeulebroecke, L. (1998). Prenatal attachment in future parents of twins. Early Development & Parenting, 7, 223–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Condon, J. T., & Corkindale, C. (1997). The correlates of antenatal attachment in pregnant women. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 70, 359–372.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cranley, M. S. (1981). Roots of attachment: The relationship of parents with their unborn. Birth Defects: Original Article Series, 17, 59–83.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cranley, M. S. (1984). Social support as a factor in the development of parents’ attachment to their unborn. Birth Defects: Original Article Series, 20, 99–124.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Deave, T. (2005). Associations between child development and women’s attitudes to pregnancy and motherhood. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 23, 63–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deutsch, F. M., Ruble, D. N., Fleming, A., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Stangor, C. (1986, April). Becoming a mother: Information-seeking and self-definitional processes. Paper presented at the meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deutsch, F. M., Ruble, D. N., Fleming, A., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Stangor, C. (1988). Information-seeking and maternal self-definition during the transition to motherhood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 420–431.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Deutsch, H. (1945). The psychology of women (Vol. 2). New York: Grune & Stratton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feldman, R., Weller, A., Zagory-Sharon, O., & Levine, A. (2007). Evidence for a neuroendocrinological foundation of human affiliation. Psychological Science, 18, 114–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flapan, M. (1969). A paradigm for the analysis of childbearing motivations of women prior to birth of the first child. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 39, 402–417.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fonagy, P., Steele, H., & Steele, M. (1991). Maternal representations of attachment during pregnancy predict the organization of infant-mother attachment at one year of age. Child Development, 62, 891–905.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frank, M. A., Tuber, S. B., Slade, A., & Garrod, E. (1994). Mothers’ fantasy representations and infant security attachment: A Rorschach study of first pregnancy. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 11, 475–490.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gillman, R. D. (1968, July). The dreams of pregnant women and maternal adaptation. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 38, 688–692.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grossman, F. K., Eichler, L. S., & Winickoff, S. A. (1980). Pregnancy, birth, and parenthood. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haedt, A., & Keel, P. (2007). Maternal attachment, depression, and body dissatisfaction in pregnant women. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 25, 285–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hart, R., & McMahon, C. A. (2006). Mood state and psychological adjustment to pregnancy. Archives of Women’s Mental Health, 9, 329–337.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Huth-Bocks, A. C. (2003). Mother-infant attachment: The impact of maternal representations during pregnancy, maternal risk factors, and social support. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences & Engineering, 63(9-B), 4374.

    Google Scholar 

  • Insel, T. R., & Young, L. J. (2001). The neurobiology of attachment. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2, 129–136.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lederman, R. (1988, April). Prenatal prediction of maternal postpartum adaptation. Paper presented at the Sixteenth Annual Meeting of the American Society for Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology, St. Helena, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lederman, R. (1989, June). Prediction of postpartum adaptation from maternal prenatal adaptation scales. Presentation at second International Nursing Research Conference on Social Support, Seoul, Korea.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lederman, R. (1996). Psychosocial adaptation in pregnancy: Assessment of seven dimensions of maternal development (2nd ed.) New York, Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lederman, R., Harrison, J., & Worsham, S. (1992). Psychosocial predictors of low birth weight in a multicultural, high risk population. In K. Wijma & B. von Schoultz (Eds.), Reproductive life: Advance in research in psychosomatic obstetrics and gynecology. Carforth, UK: The Parthenon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lederman, R., Lederman, E., Work, B. A., Jr., & McCann, D. S. (1979). Relationship of psychological factors in pregnancy to progress in labor. Nursing Research, 28, 94–97.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lederman, R., Lederman, E., Work, B. A., Jr., & McCann, D. (1985). Anxiety and epinephrine in multiparous labor: Relationship to duration of labor and fetal heart rate pattern. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 153, 870–877.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lederman, R. P. (l996) Psychosocial Adaptation in Pregnancy: Assessment of Seven Dimensions of Maternal Development. (2nd ed.). New York : Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lederman, R. P., Weis, K., Brandon, J., Hills, B., & Mian, T. (2002, April). Relationship of maternal prenatal adaptation and family functioning to pregnancy outcomes. Poster presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leifer, M. (1977). Psychological changes accompanying pregnancy and motherhood. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 95, 55–96.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lindgren, K. (2001). Relationships among maternal-fetal attachment, prenatal depression, and health practices in pregnancy. Research in Nursing and Health, 24, 203–217.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lindgren, K. (2003). A comparison of pregnancy health practices of women in inner-city and small urban communities. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing, 32, 313–321.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Main, D. M., Gabbe, S. G., Richardson, D., & Strong, S. (1985). Can preterm deliveries be prevented? American Journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, 151, 892–898.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Monk, C., Leight, K. L., & Fang, Y. (2008). The relationship between women’s attachment style and perinatal mood disturbance: implications for treatment and screening. Archives of Women’s Mental Health, 9, 117–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muller, M. E. (1992).A critical review of prenatal attachment research. Scholarly Inquiry for Nursing Practice, 6, 2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muller, M. E. (1996). Prenatal and postnatal attachment: A modest correlation. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing, 25, 161–166.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oakley, A. (1980). Women confined: Towards a sociology of childbirth. New York: Schocken.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pohlman, E. H. (1969). The psychology of birth planning. Cambridge, MA: Shenkman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Priel, B., & Besser, A. (2001). Bridging the gap between attachment and object relations theories: A study of the transition to motherhood. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 74, 85–100.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Raphael-Leff, J. (1986). Facilitators and regulators: Conscious and unconscious processes in pregnancy and early motherhood. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 59, 43–55.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rees, B. L. (1980). Measuring identification with the mothering role. Research in Nursing and Health, 3, 49–56.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rich, A. (1976). Of woman born: Motherhood as institution. New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ricks, M. H. (1985). The social transmission of parental behavior: Attachment versus generations. In I. Bretheron & E. Waters (Eds.), Growing points in attachment theory and research. SCRD Monographs, 48, serial no. 209, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, R. (1984). Maternal identity and the maternal experience. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, R. (1967a). Attainment of the maternal role. Part I: Process. Nursing Research, 16, 237–245.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, R. (1967b). Attainment of the maternal role. Part II: Models and referents. Nursing Research, 16, 342–346.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ruble, D. N. (1983). The development of social-comparison processes and their role in achievement-related self-socialization. In E. T. Higgins, D. N. Ruble, & W. W. Hartup (Eds.), Social cognition and social development: A sociocultural perspective (pp. 134–157), New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruble, D. N. (1987). The acquisition of self-knowledge: A self-socialization perspective. In N. Eisenberg (Ed.), Contemporary topics in developmental psychology, (pp. 243–270), New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shereshefsky, P. M., Plotsky, H., & Lockman, R. F. (1973). Pregnancy adaptation. In P. M. Shereshefsky & L. J. Yarrow (Eds.), Psychological aspects of a first pregnancy and early postnatal adaptation. New York: Raven.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shereshefsky, P. M., & Yarrow, L. J. (Eds.). (1973). Psychological aspects of a first pregnancy and early postnatal adaptation. New York: Raven.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sherwen, L. N. (1981). Fantasies during the third trimester of pregnancy. Maternal Child Nursing Journal, 6, 398–401.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Siddiqui, A., & Hagglof, B. (2000). Does maternal prenatal attachment predict postnatal mother-infant interaction. Early Human Development, 59, 13–25.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Slade, A., Grienenberger, J., Bernbach, E., Levy, D., & Locker, A. (2005). Maternal reflective functioning, attachment, and the transmission gap: A preliminary study. Attachment and Human Development, 7, 283–298.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Steele, H., Steele, M., & Fonagy, P. (1996). Associations among attachment classifications of mothers, fathers, and their infants. Child Development, 67, 541–555.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Trad, P. (1991). Adaptation to developmental transformations during various phases of motherhood. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, 19, 403–421.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tsartsara, E., & Johnson, M. P. (2006). The impact of miscarriage on women’s pregnancy-specific anxiety and feelings of prenatal maternal-fetal attachment during the course of a subsequent pregnancy: An exploratory follow-up study. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology, 27, 173–182.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wachter, M. P. K. (2002). Psychological distress and dyadic satisfaction as predictors of maternal-fetal attachment. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences & Engineering, 63(4-B), 2080.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wenner, N. K., Cohen, M. B., Weigert, E. V., Kvarnes, R. G., Ohaneson, E. M., & Fearing, J. M. (1969). Emotional problems in pregnancy. Psychiatry, 32, 389–410.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, C. L., Rholes, W. S., Simpson, J. A., & Tran, S. (2008). Labor, delivery, and early parenthood: An attachment theory perspective. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 505–518.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • von Klitzing, K., Amsler, F., Schleske, G., Simoni, H., & Burgin, D. (1996). Effect of psychological factors in pregnancy on the development of parent-child relations. 2. Transition from prenatal to postnatal phase. Gynakologisch-Geburtshilfliche Rundschau, 36, 149–155.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zeanah, C. H., Keener, M. A., Stewart, L., & Anders, T. F. (1985). Prenatal perception of infant personality: A preliminary investigation. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 24, 503–505.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Texas, Galveston, TX, USA

    Regina Lederman

  2. United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, Brooks-City Base, TX, USA

    Karen Weis

Authors
  1. Regina Lederman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Karen Weis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Regina Lederman .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Lederman, R., Weis, K. (2009). Identification with a Motherhood Role. In: Psychosocial Adaptation to Pregnancy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0288-7_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0288-7_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-0287-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-0288-7

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation