£76,974, Economic and Social Research Council Description This work proposes gathering, describing, assessing and integrating the research exploring the experiences of first-time mothers. Mothers play a key role in the health of families. A problematic transition to motherhood can have long-lasting effects on both women and their families. Synthesizing the literature on women's experiences about what helps and hinders becoming a mother will contribute to the sociology of gender, reproduction and life-course transitions, and will inform policy and practice for better supporting new mothers. The review will also advance the methodology of research synthesis in the social sciences, since much of the research will be 'qualitative' in nature, and synthesizing such research is one of the main challenges confronting systematic reviewers in the social sciences (Petticrew and Roberts, 2006). Keywords Health promotion, Parenting, Health and wellbeing, Social policy, Systematic review, Qualitative analysis Research outputs Becoming a mother: a research synthesis of women’s experiences of first-time motherhood [IOE Research Briefing N°34]