The maternal bond is typically the relationship between a mother and her child.
While it typically occurs due to pregnancy and childbirth, it may also occur between a woman and an unrelated child, such as in adoption. There are hundreds of factors, physical and emotional, which influence the mother-infant bonding process.
Many new mothers do not always experience the "instantly-in-mother-love" emotions. Bonding is a gradually unfolding experience that can take hours, days, weeks, or even months to develop.
