Maternal Guilt and Women’s Mental Health: A Narrative Literature Review

Maternal guilt is a frequently reported emotional experience among mothers and has increasingly been linked to women’s mental health. However, research on maternal guilt remains dispersed across multiple disciplines and research contexts. This study aims to synthesize existing literature on maternal guilt and its relationship with women’s mental health. A narrative literature review was conducted to integrate empirical and conceptual findings from psychology, sociology, nursing, and family studies. Relevant studies were identified through searches of major academic databases, including Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. A total of 30 studies met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed using thematic narrative synthesis. The review identified five major themes. First, maternal guilt is conceptualized as a self-conscious emotion arising from perceived discrepancies between mothers’ actual caregiving behaviors and internalized standards of the “ideal mother.” Second, sociocultural expectations—particularly intensive motherhood norms and gender role ideologies—play a significant role in shaping maternal guilt. Third, maternal guilt commonly emerges in contexts such as work–family conflict, breastfeeding challenges, and caregiving responsibilities related to children’s health and development. Fourth, persistent maternal guilt is associated with adverse mental health outcomes, including anxiety, depressive symptoms, emotional exhaustion, and reduced psychological well-being. Finally, several protective factors—such as social support, co-parenting involvement, and parenting self-efficacy—appear to mitigate the impact of maternal guilt. Overall, the findings suggest that maternal guilt reflects the interaction between individual self-evaluative processes and broader sociocultural expectations surrounding motherhood. Recognizing maternal guilt as a significant factor in women’s mental health highlights the importance of supportive family, social, and workplace environments to promote maternal well-being.