Bridging the gap in maternal care: Support for new moms
More than 1 in 5 (23%) mothers in Canada experience a perinatal mental health disorder1. But even those who don’t meet a diagnosis often struggle with the profound changes that come with early parenthood, including shifts in identity, relationships, daily rhythms, sleep, and confidence.
There’s even a name for this time: matrescence—the developmental passage into motherhood2. Like adolescence, it’s disorienting, transformative, and often invisible.
Mental health care during this time typically refers women to talk therapy. That support is undeniably valuable, but it’s not the only option. Occupational therapy offers something distinct and complementary:a focus on function and daily life3.
Your occupational therapist (OT) can help you engage in meaningful activity, especially during times of disruption. During matrescence, that might look like rebuilding routines, managing sensory overwhelm, navigating brain fog, or reconnecting with identity and joy. It’s practical, compassionate, and relevant support when you need it most.
Your OT can help you navigate many of the things that come with the transition to motherhood:
Role change
Becoming a mom shifts who you are and how you understand yourself. You might experience joy, love, and pride alongside grief, confusion, resentment, or loneliness. Research finds that supporting parents through this identity shift improves functional outcomes and stress levels4.
Occupational therapy helps you:
Identify your values and take steps toward bringing them to life
Connect with who you are now and who you were before
Return to meaningful activities (leisure, work, fitness, and more)
New occupations
“Occupations” are all the things that occupy your time and energy. During matrescence, self-care and leisure occupations can easily fade into the background. Feeding, soothing, diapering, and pumping become your new main occupations while learning the emerging personality and preferences of a baby. Guilt and perfectionism often creep in amid the unfamiliar and unrelenting demands of early motherhood.
Your OT helps you make these new and shared activities more connective and manageable by:
Co-creating rhythm and routine that work for you
Troubleshooting tricky parts (sleep, breastfeeding, soothing)
Using mindfulness to strengthen connection and attunement
Adapting and adjusting expectations with acceptance and compassion
Brain changes
Massive shifts in hormones and brain structure occur during pregnancy and postpartum5. While these changes can help you become more attuned to your baby, you may be left feeling foggy, forgetful, and mentally overloaded.
Many moms report difficulty staying organized, managing emotions, remembering tasks, and getting things done while carrying the invisible mental work of daily caregiving (aka ‘the mental load’). Add sleep deprivation and the possibility of mood changes, and it’s no wonder so many women feel overwhelmed and burned out.
Here are ways your OT helps you manage these brain changes and the mental load:
Build external supports
Harness your energy and optimize sleep and rest
Offer tools to manage overwhelm, frustration, and burnout
Develop skills for organization and routine
Sensory overload
New parenthood brings constant sensory input: cries, clutter, physical closeness, and disrupted sleep. Many moms feel touched out or overstimulated (and then guilty for needing space). Everyone has sensory preferences and sensitivities, and there are ways to work with or against them6. Bringing awareness to and addressing sensory needs can instantly create a little more calm amid the chaos.
Your OT helps you to:
Understand your sensory needs and thresholds
Create nervous system-friendly routines
Modify your home environment to nurture regulation
Build habits that restore a sense of comfort and control
Connection and leisure
In the intensity of mothering, joy and connection are often pushed to the back burner. Ask any mom about something they recently did for themselves and most will struggle to answer. And while competing demands in motherhood are plentiful, finding moments of leisure, creativity, and belonging are essential to well-being.
Matrescence is a season as disorienting as it is profound.The physical, emotional, cognitive, hormonal, and relational shifts come on hard and fast.
Whether you’re just trying to manage daily life or on an intentional journey of self-discovery during pregnancy, postpartum, or motherhood, your maternal health OT can help you find your way.
Occupational therapy is a missing link in maternal mental health—and a resource many mothers never knew they needed but wholly deserve.
Your OT helps you create realistic ways to achieve connection and fun whatever season of motherhood you are in. Whether you’re working toward a big goal or simply trying to find a little more space for yourself, OT can guide you—even in the hardest seasons.
Author Bio
Elissa Bajac is an occupational therapist in Kitchener and Guelph, Ontario, who supports women and families through tender and vulnerable transitions. Her work focuses on pregnancy, postpartum, and the many shifting seasons of motherhood. Elissa offers gentle, practical care to help clients reconnect with their values, restore rhythm, and build resilience through times of change. Learn more at www.seasonsofchangetherapy.com or follow along on Instagram at @seasonsofchangetherapy.
References
1. Government of Canada, S. C. (2019, June 24). Maternal Mental Health in Canada, 2018/2019. The Daily - Statistics Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/190624/dq190624b-eng.htm
2. Raphael, D.. (1975). Being female: Reproduction, power, and change.
3. Barbic SP, MacKirdy K, Weiss R, Barrie A, Kitchin V, Lepin S. Scoping Review of the Role of Occupational Therapy in the Treatment of Women With Postpartum Depression. Annals of International Occupational Therapy. 2021;4(4):e249-e259. doi:10.3928/24761222-20210921-02
4. Khan, S. (2025). Occupational Therapy Guidelines for Supporting Role Transitions and Managing Stress in Women Experiencing Postpartum Depression. Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/0164212X.2025.2476167
5. Mota, N., Rodrigues, N. B., & Vilela, L. (2024). Brain plasticity in pregnancy and the postpartum period: links to maternal behaviors and mental health. Frontiers in Global Women’s Health, 2:742775. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgwh.2021.742775
6. Turner, K. A., Cohn, E. S., & Koomar, J. (2012). Mothering when mothers and children both have sensory processing challenges. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 75(10), 449–455. https://doi.org/10.4276/030802212X13496921049626