Presentor
Melissa Miceli
Melissa is a Qualified Occupational Therapist, Maternal Health practitioner, academic researcher, and educator. Her published research explored the experiences and gave a voice to vulnerable and marginalised mothers affected by trauma, severe mental health conditions and child removal, which went on to be published. Melissa founded Motherscape after mothering five children of her own and identifying the need for women to have enhanced care in late pregnancy and early postpartum. Through her work in maternal health, Melissa has developed a particular interest in the profound transformation that occurs through motherhood that involves a deep reshaping of identity, relationships, and occupations in everyday life. She recognised the valuable contribution her training and experience could provide. Melissa brings a unique combination of clinical expertise and lived experience of motherhood through using an innovative and enhanced model of health care delivery.
Shapeshifting in Motherhood:
Bringing Maternal Transformation into Focus
Proposed Presentation Blurb: The experience of becoming a mother is well defined. During pregnancy, birth and postpartum, women undergo immense transformation. Their bodies, identities, relationships, occupations, priorities and sense of self meet the ever-changing needs of their children and families. The constant need for reinvention, adaptation and growth is something parents and health care professionals navigate daily. This plenary session explores motherhood through the metaphor of shapeshifting using both lived experience and evidence-informed practice to examine the process of maternal becoming. It will examine the invisible labour of motherhood, the reshaping of occupation, the emotional complexity of identity change, and the ways women repeatedly reconstruct and become many versions of themselves as their children grow. As such, the requirements of those in maternal health also need to be adaptable to ensure they meet the needs of women and their families. This session challenges the idea that maternal transition is a temporary adjustment. Instead, it proposes that motherhood is an ongoing process of constant adaptation that continues throughout life. Motherhood does not simply ask women to become mothers. It asks them to become many versions of themselves. As a result, we can create space where women feel witnessed, understood and supported by incorporating identity-focused support into our work.