Well-being, Self-esteem and Body Satisfaction in New Mothers

Background: How mother’s recall their experience of childbirth,
their concerns about body image, their sense of competence in
parenting, and their combined sense of self-esteem are all factors
with the potential to impact on mental well-being.
Method: A total of 234 women, who had given birth within the past
3 years, completed a survey comprised of the Birth Memories and
Recall Questionnaire, the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale, the
Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, the Rosenberg Self-
Esteem Questionnaire and the Body Shape Questionnaire.
Results: Mothers who have higher body dissatisfaction show significantly
lower well-being, self-esteem and perceived parenting
competence. Mothers who experienced higher levels of mental
well-being were found to have higher levels of perceived parenting
competence and self-esteem, and those who experienced higher
levels of self-esteem were also found to have higher levels of
perceived parenting competence.
Conclusion: Memories of the birth experience, perceived postpartum
body image, parenting sense of competence and self-esteem
have a combined and complex relationship with mental well-being.
Health care professionals should inform mothers about the body
changes which may occur throughout the postpartum period, to
encourage mothers not to be deceived by media images and to
stress the importance of realistic expectations following giving birth.