Maternal Role Attainment (MRA) or “Becoming a Mom” theory was developed by nurse theorist Ramona T. Mercer, PhD, RN, FAAN. It describes the process of seeing oneself in the role of mother and feeling comfortable about it. It is the process of becoming a mother throughout a woman’s life span in order to develop a strong maternal identity. Mercer's model is centered on the bond between mother and child, and how this bond helps enhance and bring forth confidence in the motherhood role.

This theory was influenced by the work of Mercer’s mentor, Reva Rubin, who first introduced the concept of MRA in the late 60s. Ramona Mercer expanded Rubin’s previous work and studied mothers of all age groups and experiences creating a practice-based theory. Rubin’s work described the maternal role as a complex cognitive and social process, and focused on MRA from the acceptance of the pregnancy to 1 month postpartum. Mercer extended Rubin’s time-frame to 12 months postpartum and included women regardless of their age and environment. Mercer’s theory is important because it looks at a wide range of factors that influence the maternal role and the process of becoming a mother.
The Maternal Role Attainment theory incorporates social determinants of health by assessing the mother and identifying her maternal role in terms of weaknesses and strengths. The success of Ramona Mercer’s nursing theory can be attributed to the fact that she used a diverse set of theories to both develop and expand her model. Mercer’s theoretical sources included Mead’s theory on role enactment, Turner’s theory on core self and Werner’s developmental process.
The concepts of Mercer’s MRA follow a process that has 4 stages. Mercer revised the terms of these stages in 2004, but the stages themselves remained the same.
Stage 1: Commitment, attachment and preparation—this is the time during pregnancy when the new mother makes psychological adjustments in expectation of her new role.
Stage 2: Acquaintance, learning and physical restoration—this stage begins with the birth of the child, when the role of the mother is assumed and learned according to her social system.
Stage 3: Moving toward a new normal—it’s the stage in the early months of the infant’s life when the mother makes her new role fit her lifestyle in a personal manner, rather than in the context of her social system.
Stage 4: The achievement of maternal identity—this stage usually occurs when the infant is 4 months old, and the mother experiences a sense of contentment, harmony and confidence.
Mercer described factors that directly or indirectly influenced the mother role. The first one was maternal factors, which included: age at first birth, birth experience, separation from the infant, social support, stress, personality traits, self-concept, child-rearing habits and health. The second was infant factors: the temperament, appearance, responsiveness and health. She also noted the importance of the father’s role and the mother-father relationship. The father or intimate partner contributes to the process of Maternal Role Attainment because the father’s interactions help diffuse tension and facilitate MRA; therefore, the maternal attachment to the infant develops as a result of the emotional bond with the father of the child.
Ramona Mercer identified 4 global concepts in her theory. The first concept was of human beings as independent and separated from other roles. She applied this first concept to the role of the maternal self. According to Mercer, values, morals, self-esteem and confidence were factors that played a role in motherhood. The second concept was environment and how it has an impact on the maternal role; issues outside the family have an impact on how the maternal role will be played, and the need for a balancing act between stressful events such as, conflict and difficulties in fulfilling the maternal role, and gratification, pleasure, reward and satisfaction a mother experiences when interacting with her infant. The third concept is health. Mercer defines health as the mother’s and father’s past medical history, and how it relates to the future children they might have. She believed the mother and father had to look at their current health as well as any concerns about their lifestyles that could potentially affect the future child. According to Mercer, whatever happened during childbearing years could affect the child’s health.
The last concept is nursing and how nurses have a very important role in the maternal cycle. Nurses play an enormous role on the outcome of the childbirth because nurses have a duty to promote growth and well-being as well as educating families before, during and after the maternal cycle. These 4 concepts together define and shape how this cycle will be carried out.
Ramona Mercer has developed a successful nursing theory that is accepted and used in maternal-child nursing education and practice. It provided a framework to guide and help families deal with parenthood, and support mothers through the process of becoming a mother.
Sources:
Alligood, M. R. (2010). Introduction to nursing theory: Its history, significance and analysis. In M. R. Alligood & A. M. Tomey, Nursing theorists and their work (seventh ed., pp. 3-15).
Mercer, R. T. (1995). Becoming a mother: Research on maternal identity from Rubin to the present. New York: Springer.