This paper presents the results of a qualitative study conducted by midwife researchers into women's experience of new motherhood. Data were collected using focus groups involving 55 first-time mothers and analysed using grounded theory method. The analysis produced six categories: 'realizing', 'unready', 'drained', 'aloneness', 'loss' and 'working it out'. The core category, 'becoming a mother', integrates all other categories and encapsulates the process of change experienced by women. Also explained are factors mediating the often distressing experience of becoming a mother. The analysis provides a conceptualization of early motherhood enabling the development of strategies for midwives, nurses and other helping women negotiate this challenge.

This paper explains the methods used in a grounded theory analysis of the experience of 55 first-time mothers in Australia, presented in the first of this series of two papers. The categories identified in the research are realising, readiness, drained, aloneness, loss and working it out, encompassed in the core category becoming a mother. Specifically, this paper extends the analysis and explains the application of a 'paradigm model' and the identification of a Basic Social Process (BSP). The paper links the analysis to the literature on early motherhood from nursing, midwifery, feminist, and sociological research. A substantive theory is proposed to explain women's experience in becoming mothers that demonstrates how, when responsive to the needs of those researched, a grounded theory analysis can provide a framework for nursing and midwifery care.

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This study has demonstrated the importance of social media in supporting informal peer-peer learning and support, augmenting online and offline relationships, and building professional identity as a nurse.

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