In this deeply layered conversation, we speak with Natasha Uppal, founder of Matrescence India, about the invisible, lifelong transformation that accompanies motherhood. Moving sequentially through pregnancy, birth, postpartum depression, relationship rupture and repair, and professional reinvention, Natasha reframes maternal distress not as personal inadequacy, but as a systemic failure of care.

The episode explores matrescence — the biological, neurological, emotional, and identity shift women undergo when becoming mothers — as the missing lens in maternal health, workplaces, and family systems. Natasha reflects on empowered childbirth, postpartum depression despite deep attachment, the collapse of productivity metrics, and the slow rebuilding of self-trust, body awareness, and purpose.

Drawing from her work across socioeconomic contexts, Natasha shows how maternal isolation, sacrifice, and silence cut across class — and why community, language, and systemic redesign matter more than individual resilience.

💡 Why You Should Listen

Listen if you want language for what motherhood changed in you — not just practically, but existentially.This episode will resonate if you’ve:

• Felt confident as a mother but lost as a person
• Loved your child deeply and still felt depleted
• Questioned productivity, ambition, or self-worth postpartum
• Navigated strain in your partnership after childbirth
• Wanted to understand why support systems fail mothers so consistently

This is not advice. It’s orientation.

Notable Quotes from the Guest

• “It didn’t feel like a personal failure. It felt like a system failure.”
• “I was so connected with my child… and still, I felt like an empty shell.”
• “Productivity is inherently capitalistic and patriarchal.”
• “I knew how to take care of my child very well. I didn’t know how to take care of myself at all.”
• “Matrescence is a very real developmental stage. It is not something we should gloss over.”
• “I will not rest till matrescence is a dinner table conversation.”

🛠️ Practical Takeaways for Listeners

• Contradictions are normal: Joy, grief, confidence, and despair can coexist.
• Postpartum distress is not diagnostic of love: Attachment and depression can exist together.
• Rest is biological, not indulgent: Listening to the body is learned — not intuitive.
• External validation is unreliable: Motherhood can rewire how self-worth is measured.
• Partners need frameworks, not goodwill: Equality requires preparation and shared language.
• Matrescence is lifelong: Identity shifts continue across every stage of parenting.

Resources & References

• Matrescence — term coined by anthropologist Dana Raphael
• Matrescence India
• WHO Nurturing Care Framework
• Mama Rising (Amy Taylor-Kabbaz), Australia

🧘‍♀️About the Guest

Natasha Uppal is the founder of Matrescence India, a platform focused on maternal mental health, identity transitions, and systemic care. She is an early childhood development specialist, sociologist, and matrescence coach-in-training (Mama Rising, Australia). Her work bridges lived experience, research, and advocacy to make motherhood visible, supported, and speakable.

Follow Natasha on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natcat_5

Follow Matrescence India on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matrescenceindia/

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