*Reframing Motherhood within a Jungian Approach to Snow White: A Research Case Study Using… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109443*

implications for mental health care can assist with anxiety, frustration, and insecurity of first-time mothers [15]. Creative approaches to harnessing myth and fairy tale may support inner personal change [16]. Additionally, the experiences of first-time mothers can be explored through the use of imagery within an existential framework [17].

Clearly, there is a need for psychological support and care in the transition to motherhood. This transition has been described as a time of crisis, in that it leads to re-examination of the person's life in terms of values, beliefs, and own selves in order to make sense of what has happened and to start to see their lives in new ways [18]. Some first-time mothers may face additional challenges, pre-existing at the time of birth, such as anticipating and/or coping with a pregnancy affected by infertility treatment, high-risk pregnancies, bereavement, ectopic pregnancy, previous miscarriage(s), and so on. In fact, problems with fertility related to getting and remaining pregnant may affect the developing relationship between the child and the mother after birth, and issues around the resolution of previously unsuccessful pregnancies may contribute to conflicted feelings during pregnancy and consequently negatively affect self-efficacy in motherhood [19]. Further, a previous traumatic bereavement of a child/pregnancy can create a lifelong "emotional scar of loss" for the mother [20], affecting the interactive mothering relationship with a "replacement child" [21].

A previously lost pregnancy can also have an effect on motherhood related to subsequent pregnancies and childbirth. Even more broadly, new mothers are in a state of flux and need to deal with multiple uncertainties and unresolved meanings during this transition; they many need to courageously address unresolved experiences to continue to relate to their child [22]. Psychological distress after perinatal loss due to miscarriage or stillbirth is common and typically leads to a range of coping mechanisms by the woman in subsequent pregnancy, which may impact on maternal-fetal and consequently maternal-child relationships [23]. In fact, a high proportion of women may experience elevated levels of ongoing posttraumatic stress, anxiety, and depression after early pregnancy loss such as miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy. These effects may remain longer after ectopic pregnancy than miscarriage, and further work is needed in identifying and treating affected women [24, 25]. In addressing postnatal depression, the importance of understanding each woman's story from an existential point of view to find personal meaning in their experience of motherhood has been highlighted by Donaghy [26]. For example, incorporating a baby who has died into the family story is a healthy form of adaptation and allows for the development of new relationships [27].

Women are also affected by societal views and expectations of motherhood. A generalized societal "myth of motherhood" exists, "fired by media and popular images of the attractive, perfectly dressed and made-up mother, with her happy, smiling family, an ideal which, if believed, serves to make women feel inadequate" [10], and may further be understood as needing to appear as "serene madonnas" or "capable super-mums" [10]. A strong and dominant myth endures in our society depicting women as "natural mothers, immediately able to care for their babies, and ultimately fulfilled in this role of selfless carer and nurturer" [28]. It is clear that the wide range of such ideologies and societal expectations around motherhood myths needs to be challenged, in order to support women in their individual transition to motherhood [28]. In fact, the ideal of the "good" mother which cannot be met may lead to inner conflict and can be associated with anxiety and depression [29]. Inner stressors encompass a fundamental change in identity [28, 30]. The subjective experience of first-time motherhood can be described under themes of (1) the realization of new motherhood, and (2) coping with new motherhood [28], which include attending to the demands of the baby and adjustment to motherhood. Changes in personal consumption in terms of eating, drinking and grooming are influenced by perceived risks to the baby [31]. Conflict arises when the material reality does not meet the expectations of the myth of new motherhood, in turn leading to negative experiences; hidden feelings of failure and undiagnosed depression and social support may be lacking [32, 33]. In this context, healthcare providers need to sensitively provide ongoing support to the mother whilst the ideology of motherhood is challenged [28] and meaning-making and spirituality are explored in relation to this pivotal and paradoxical life event [34, 35].
