maternal instinct
Definition
A natural, innate impulse or set of behaviors traditionally attributed to mothers, characterized by a protective, nurturant, and self-sacrificing disposition toward offspring.
A colloquial umbrella term sometimes used to describe the psychological or biological drive to provide care, which can occasionally be romanticized or weaponized in media portrayals of extreme human behavior.
Examples
She claimed her maternal instinct was guiding her every move, which apparently included buying a car specifically for the Instagram photo op before letting it get repossessed.
While nature designed the maternal instinct for nurturing, Netflix documentaries serve as a sobering reminder that some people treat it more like a method acting exercise gone horribly wrong.
You know you have truly mastered the performance of maternal instinct when you dedicate more time to staging a maternity photoshoot than to actual reality-based life planning.