Postpartum: development of maternity

The maternal role incorporates new attitudes, beliefs, responsibilities, and relationships, all revolving around a child. The new role involves reorganization. Reorganization of the household is a simple matter; reorganizatiop of a woman's identity from woman and wife to woman, wife, and mother is considerably more complicated. Differentiation has to be made between two maternal components. The first is the emotion manifested by "motherliness." Just what is meant by "motherliness" is arbitrary. Professionals describe this emotional component in various terms: bond, attachment, tie, affection, dependency. The nursing profession has developed a list of nursing diagnoses, but a diagnosis for the emotional component of the maternal role has eluded us. Yet, maternal-child nursing is in desperate need of a diagnostic term, one that can be used by all maternal-child nurses