During pregnancy, childbirth, and early motherhood, women undergo a far-reaching physiological and psychological metamorphosis. There is no other time in a human’s life course that entails such dramatic change – other than adolescence. And yet this life-altering transition has been sorely neglected by science, medicine and philosophy. Its seismic effects go largely unrepresented across literature and the arts. Speaking about motherhood as anything other than a pastel-hued dream is virtually taboo. In this investigation, acclaimed science journalist and author Lucy Jones brings to light the emerging concept of ‘matrescence’.