The prevailing dominant discourse about motherhood in western societies reflects a set of interconnected beliefs referred to as intensive mothering ideology. Little is known about how intensive mothering ideology changes after childbirth, and the associations between intensive mothering ideology and maternal mental health. The current study aims to explore how intensive mothering ideology may evolve after childbirth in both primiparous and multiparous women, and whether any observed changes in this ideology impact maternal mental health. French women (n = 144) completed a set of study measures during late pregnancy and then again at two months and four months postpartum, which assessed intensive mothering ideology, postpartum depression, and maternal burnout symptoms. As expected, the results indicated that intensive mothering ideology increases after childbirth. However, changes in ideology were not stronger in primiparous women compared to multiparous women. Of note, multiparous women reported stronger challenge and sacrifice beliefs. Finally, linear mixed models showed that changes in intensive mothering ideology were associated with maternal mental health in contradictory ways, while controlling for parity and unemployment. Mainly, growth in sacrificial beliefs seems to be detrimental to maternal mental health. These findings have implications for the well-being of mothers after childbirth and call for challenging the self-sacrifice beliefs that underpin intensive mothering ideology in order to promote self-care.

西方社会关于母性的盛行主流话语反映了一组相互关联的信念，称为密集的母性意识形态。人们对分娩后强烈的母爱意识形态如何变化，以及强烈的母爱意识形态与孕产妇心理健康之间的关联知之甚少。目前的研究旨在探讨初产和经产妇女在分娩后的强化母亲意识形态如何演变，以及这种意识形态的任何观察到的变化是否会影响母亲的心理健康。法国妇女 ( n= 144）在怀孕后期完成了一套研究措施，然后在产后两个月和四个月再次完成，评估了强烈的母性观念、产后抑郁症和母亲倦怠症状。正如预期的那样，结果表明，在分娩后，密集的母亲意识增加了。然而，与经产妇女相比，初产妇女的意识形态变化并不强烈。值得注意的是，经产妇女报告了更强烈的挑战和牺牲信念。最后，线性混合模型表明，强化育儿意识形态的变化以相互矛盾的方式与孕产妇心理健康相关，同时控制了平等和失业。主要是，牺牲信仰的增长似乎不利于孕产妇的心理健康。