The lived experience of mothering after prison: the preliminary study.

The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological preliminary study was to gain a better understanding of the experience of mothering after prison. In-depth interviewing was conducted with two participants for a period of 4 months after their release from prison. All interviews were focused on the research question, "What has been your experience of mothering since your release from prison?" Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The following four themes emerged: "always the mother,""separation anxiety,""new demands: divided loyalties," and "the honeymoon is over."