Matrescence is the developmental process of becoming a mother, including profound physical, psychological, social, and emotional changes.
The medical anthropologist Dana Raphael coined the word matrescence in the 1970s, from the Latin matresco, "to become a mother." She posited that the transition to being a mother is as important and complex as adolescence, the period during which a child transitions into an adult. While the hormonal shifts of pregnancy and birth are important aspects of matrescence, modern psychology emphasizes that matrescence is a developmental process and social passage that is relevant to adoptive and foster mothers as well.