Campaign Launched to Add 'Matrescence' to Dictionary
The community app Peanut and parent-care brand Tommee Tippee have launched a global campaign to add the word "matrescence" to the dictionary. The term, which describes the process of becoming a mother, is being promoted to give a name to the physical, psychological, and emotional changes of motherhood. The initiative aims to raise cultural awareness around the identity shift.
- The term "matrescence" was coined in 1973 by anthropologist Dana Raphael, who also popularized the term "doula" to describe a non-medical caregiver for new mothers. - The concept was later expanded by Dr. Aurélie Athan, a clinical psychologist at Columbia University, to describe the developmental passage a woman goes through from pre-conception and pregnancy to the postnatal period and beyond. - A survey by the community app Peanut found that 67% of mothers have never heard of the term "matrescence," highlighting the lack of a common vocabulary for the transition to motherhood. - The campaign to add "matrescence" to the dictionary was launched with a full-page advertisement in The New York Times, urging lexicographers at dictionaries like Merriam-Webster to formally recognize the word. - The campaign argues that without a name, the experience of becoming a mother is often minimized or pathologized, contributing to feelings of isolation for many women. - While the campaign targets major English dictionaries, the term "matrescence" was added to the Cambridge Dictionary in May 2022. - Research indicates that the transition to motherhood involves significant and lasting changes to the brain, particularly in regions related to social cognition and emotional processing. - The initiative is part of a broader effort by Peanut and Tommee Tippee to address maternal mental health, with previous campaigns highlighting issues like loneliness and the pressure for mothers to hide their true feelings.
