This study aims to investigate how women experience their postpartum and motherhood exercised in early childhood. To this end, a qualitative research was conducted by interviewing ten women from Rio de Janeiro who belong to the middle class, are professionally active, aged between 29 and 37 years, married (formally or otherwise), primiparous heterosexuals, and have a child aged between 8 months and 2 years. The results were analyzed according to the content analysis method and its categorical aspect. From the narratives of the interviewees, the following categories of analysis emerged: postpartum distress; support network; and It was not quite like that…; in addition to being a mother: how many roles are possible; motherhood and conjugality; and amount of time versus quality of time. The results will be presented in two articles. The first intends to investigate the experience of postpartum women today. The second aims to discuss how women experience motherhood in relation to conjugality and the exercise of their occupation. The data pointed the postpartum as a period idealized for women, but lived with distress and emotional instability. It also indicates that mothers value being present in the care of their children and that they experience great tension as they try to share their time between work and family. It was also noted the importance of mother and baby support network, and a more equal division between mothers and fathers in child care and especially in household management.