The motherhood constellation is a concept coined by Daniel N. Stern to describe the mental organization in which the child is most prominent.
[2] Psychoanalyst Daniel N. Stern has spent much of his research on what it means to become a mother and how this influences the development of the child.
[3] This new mind-set, depending on culture, personality and the like, forms a 'unique self-system, the motherhood constellation, which emerges during pregnancy and may last for many months or even years.
[4] During it, 'Mother's self-sense becomes largely organised around the presence of her baby, its well-being, and their mutual connection',[5] and the mother becomes preoccupied with the protection of her child.
[6] In his work Stern also refers to attunement of the caregiver: the responsiveness of parents to the communication of the child's needs.