003: How Understanding Matrescence Helped Me Embrace My New Identity in Motherhood - Zana's Personal Journey

Episode 3: My Matrescence Story - Zana's Personal Journey In this deeply personal episode, host Zana sets aside the research and theory to share her own lived experience of matrescence — the profound transformation a woman undergoes when she becomes a mother. Zana paints a vivid picture of who she was before children: a psychology graduate raised to value independence and career ambition, living a city life with her husband — traveling, spending freely, and loving every bit of it. Then, almost overnight, everything changed. She opens up about the shock of early motherhood — the anxiety that "absolutely exploded," the fear of being alone with her newborn, the guilt of wanting to return to work while simultaneously dreading daycare drop-offs. Through her first matrescence season, she discovered that knowledge and education were her lifeline back to confidence. But the path to her second child was far from straightforward. Zana shares the heartbreak of three consecutive miscarriages — the grief, the shame, and the quiet courage it took to keep showing up for the son she already had. When her rainbow baby arrived, her second matrescence season unfolded very differently: with more clarity, less anxiety, and a growing willingness to let her old values go. By her third season, the transformation was complete.  This episode is a beautiful reminder of why matrescence matters: when we understand that the shifts we feel to our core are normal, necessary, and worth embracing, we stop fearing them — and start becoming the mothers we want to be. Listen to Zana's journey to find out just how much her life, her values and her mothering shifted when she finally embraced matrescence.  Follow The Matrescence Project on Facebook and Instagram to be up to date with upcoming interviews, and for the opportunity to send in your questions to professionals and get the information you would like about the season of becoming a mother. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575355774112  https://www.instagram.com/matrescence_project/