Reconstruction of Identity and Meaning in the Postpartum Period: Women's Experiences of Social Vulnerability and Existential Transition-A Phenomenological Study

Abstract

Highlights This study reconceptualizes the postpartum period as a multidimensional existential transition. Rebirthing the self is proposed as a novel conceptual framework to explain identity reconstruction in vulnerable contexts. Women's experiences reveal the coexistence of fracture, negotiation, and silent resilience in early motherhood. Findings call for socially and existentially informed postpartum care models. What are the main findings? Identity reconstruction in the postpartum period extends beyond role adaptation and reflects a multidimensional existential transition. Social vulnerability intensifies the ontological transformation and reshapes meaning-making processes. What are the implications of the main findings? Maternal health services should integrate existential and psychosocial dimensions into postpartum care models. The proposed concept of rebirthing the self contributes a novel framework to maternal and women's health literature.Highlights This study reconceptualizes the postpartum period as a multidimensional existential transition. Rebirthing the self is proposed as a novel conceptual framework to explain identity reconstruction in vulnerable contexts. Women's experiences reveal the coexistence of fracture, negotiation, and silent resilience in early motherhood. Findings call for socially and existentially informed postpartum care models. What are the main findings? Identity reconstruction in the postpartum period extends beyond role adaptation and reflects a multidimensional existential transition. Social vulnerability intensifies the ontological transformation and reshapes meaning-making processes. What are the implications of the main findings? Maternal health services should integrate existential and psychosocial dimensions into postpartum care models. The proposed concept of rebirthing the self contributes a novel framework to maternal and women's health literature.Abstract Background: The postpartum period represents a critical transitional phase in which women experience profound changes in identity, meaning, and social roles. This process is often shaped by social vulnerability and existential transformation, yet remains insufficiently explored from a phenomenological perspective. This study aimed to explore how women reconstruct identity and meaning during the postpartum period within the context of social vulnerability and existential transition. Methods: This qualitative study em-ployed an descriptive phenomenological approach in accordance with the COREQ guidelines. Data saturation was achieved with 20 mothers of infants aged 0-12 months who were purposively selected from a province in eastern T & uuml;rkiye. Data were collected through semi-structured face-to-face interviews and analyzed using Colaizzi's phenomenological method. Credibility was ensured through participant validation, reflexivity, and team-based analysis. Results: Four themes emerged. Fracturing of Existence indicated an ontological shift from I to we, reflecting a metaphorical rebirth of the self. Invisible Burdens revealed that societal expectations and insufficient social support intensify psychosocial vulnerability. Re-Tailoring the Self demonstrated that maternal identity is dynamic and continuously negotiated between the past and emerging self. Construction of Silent Resilience showed that women develop strength alongside vulnerability through internal resources, spirituality, and everyday practices of hope. Conclusions: The postpartum period involves a multilayered reconstruction of identity and meaning beyond role adaptation. During this existential transition, women not only give birth to a child but also reconstruct their own existence, metaphorically giving birth to themselves.