Taking the other out of mother: the transition to secondtime motherhood

Aim: Research into maternal identity often focuses on the transition to motherhood (Smith, 1999; Miller, 2004) and the mother-child bond (e.g. Winnicott, 1956). The literature around mothers is frequently infantocentric and the emphasis on the initial transition brings an inherent assumption of just one child. When the newborn is the second child different understandings are required. By examining accounts of expectation and reality this paper seeks to explore the transition to second time motherhood.
Method: Semi-structured interviews with women were carried out from six months into pregnancy. The data was interrogated using narrative analysis. Feminist, psychoanalytic understanding was applied to interpret the narratives and gain insight to the psychological processes and experiences described by these women through their storytelling.
Findings: The reawakening of psychic conflicts and fantasies were identified in stories of the birth. Expectations were constructed using previous experience, social discourses and individual psychological processes. Realities often differed to the fantasies constructed in pregnancy. Stories of immobility during pregnancy and when encumbered with the extra equipment needed for life with two young children gave an understanding of the sense of availability and use of the womens’ space – taking it up physically and losing it psychologically.
Implications: The study has shown that having a second child enables experience to contribute to a second awakening of inner conflict, fears and fantasies. Whilst this may mediate expectations it does not preclude an uninvited recurrence of psychic processes already experienced first time around or unexpected realities of having a second child.