Nautilus Book Awards Gold Winner

Our modern, Western societal understanding of what happens to a woman when she becomes a mother—beyond emotional rollercoasters and healing her pelvic floor—remains largely uncharted territory. The transition to motherhood, a stage of life referred to as “matrescence,” actually takes two to three years, not six weeks or three months as we’ve been led to believe. Mothershift is the first book of its kind to dive into the science and soul of matrescence, offering a supportive, affirming road map to take women through this transformational process.

Jessie Harrold introduces her “map for your becoming,” a research-based, four-phase model that maps out how the transition to motherhood unfolds—and helps women to navigate every step along the way. She has used this model to guide thousands of women through the shift into motherhood. Harrold also includes self-inquiry questions and journal prompts in each chapter to help women identify and thrive amid the cascade of changes they can expect as they enter motherhood. Topics include:

• Normalizing the feelings of grief and loss of self you may feel along the way;
• Navigating the discomfort of not knowing who you are anymore now that you’re a mother;
• Guiding you to cultivate a sense of empowerment and leadership in motherhood;
• Showing you how mothering is a counterculture act;
• Showing you how to use the “superpowers” that motherhood can offer—self-tending, creativity, embodiment, ritual, community, inner knowing, and earth connection;
• Gently guiding you to explore who you are becoming and more.

Mothershift offers a wise, inspiring, and practical view of what it can look like when women are supported and encouraged to experience motherhood as a doorway to becoming more deeply in touch with who they are—and what is possible in their lives. It is a vision for an experience of motherhood that is understood as a rite of passage filled with power and potential.