Experience of motherhood as a personal transformation of women having a healthy child and a child with health

The motherhood experiences of women is still poorly explored in the psychology, particularly, the experience of mothers having a child with disabilities. Based on the analysis of existing theoretical research, the author suggests an original definition: the experience of motherhood is a major psychological formation in consciousness of a woman who became a mother. It involves transformations of life orientations of women, their value system and attitudes to their new social and physiological status. The results of comparison between predominant adaptive coping strategy of women who gave birth to a healthy baby and a child with a pathology show that the mothers of both tentatively identified types demonstrate the emotional component associated with a strong emotional response to the difficulties encountered. It is typical for the mothers of healthy children to turn to the more experienced akin people (behavioral component), while the women who gave birth to a child with a pathology, manifest the cognitive component, the essence of which is the detailed analysis of difficulties, improving of self-rating, deep awareness of their own value as a person. Semantic component of the motherhood experience includes the instrumental and terminal values. The women with a healthy child and with a child with a health problem have different value systems. The mothers with a healthy child have such values as personal fulfillment, material well-being, and social values (well-bred behavior, good manners). The mothers of a child with a pathology show predominance of values connected with health, love, wisdom, humanism.