When a baby is born, so is a mother.

Watching TED Talks is a popular pastime at CN&CO. We visit TED.com regularly to clear our heads, have a laugh or get inspired. TED Talks open our minds, spark new ways of thinking and can lead to some very interesting conversations. Each week we pick a favourite and publish it on a Tuesday, because we like how “TED Talk Tuesday” sounds. This week’s talk was posted by Josie Dougall. Here’s why she chose it. 

“When a baby is born, so is a mother”.

I love that sentence. We didn’t go to mothering school. Universities don’t offer courses or degrees in how to parent. But its “the most important job you will ever do” right? No wonder a lot of us end up feeling inadequate, ill equipped, overwhelmed, underwhelmed, stressed…

Here is a woman who is studying this transition from woman to mother. She compares it to adolescence and has labelled it matrescence.

Perhaps her studies will reveal a global mis-diagnoses in Post Partum Depression (PPD). Perhaps there is less PPD, and more matrescence? Perhaps the “cure” is just in understanding and talking more?

In this quick, informative talk, reproductive psychiatrist Alexandra Sacks breaks down the emotional tug-of-war of becoming a new mother.