Mothers' self-reports of parenthood across the first 6 months postpartum

A postpartum measure, What Being the Parent of a New Baby is Like, was administered to explore the development of maternal role for mothers (N = 76) at 1, 3, 4 1/2, and 6 months postpartum. Individual differences were relatively stable across time and accounted for much more variance than time effects. Mean scores on the Centrality (of baby) and Help (with parenting tasks) subscales decreased over time, and Evaluation (satisfaction with role performance) and Lifechange subscale scores increased. Primiparas demonstrated the steepest mean increase in Evaluation scores over time. Mean Evaluation scores for first- (n = 29) and second-time mothers (n = 33) were similar, but mothers of three or more children (n = 14) had significantly higher scores. Parity was also related inversely to amount of life change, and maternal education was related inversely to Evaluation and Centrality scores. Demographic, subscale, and contextual variable interrelationships were generally consistent with maternal role adaptation theory. Findings also suggest that parity effects are more complex than a dichotomous primipara/multipara representation.