Gobin Hernandez, L. (2021). Embodiment and the beginning of motherhood – An intuitive inquiry [Unpublished Master’s thesis]. Alef Trust & Middlesex University.

The present study aimed to explore the influence of early first-time motherhood on a woman’s sense of embodiment, while using Anderson’s (2004) method of Intuitive Inquiry. The study followed five hermeneutical cycles in order to create a rigorous and transparent framework for research and transformation. Seven participants, all early first-time mothers, were interviewed through a semi-structured questionnaire. Thematic Content Analysis, and Narrative Thematic Analysis were used to refine eight recurrent themes. Overall, the results suggested that the entry into motherhood is an extraordinary journey that leads to strong bodily experiences, both of hardship and self-sacrifice, and of development of embodied awareness and the reconstruction of an empowering embodied image of self.