From the renowned infant psychiatrist and author of the classic Diary of a Baby comes the first book to address the unique psychological transformation that occurs in women when they become mothers. According to Dr. Daniel Stern, pregnancy and motherhood can have an enormous psychologically transforming effect on women, who find themselves guided by new hopes fears, and priorities. Yet these dramatic and frequently overwhelming emotional transformations often go unexplored in favor of discussions of morning sickness, exhaustion, and the relative merits of nursing and bottle feeding. Based on interviews with hundreds of women, The Birth of a Mother paints a wonderfully evocative portrait that gives voice to those unexpressed thoughts, feelings, and fears that accompany motherhood. The book is an invaluable sourcebook for new mothers, validating the often confusing emotions that accompany the development of their new identities, as well as a resource that helps prepare pregnant women for the life-changing journey they are about to begin.