This collaborative presentation on two Irish studies conducted with mothers living with ongoing health difficulties. Popular discourses tend to support the good mother stereotype, showing little regard for subjective mothering experiences despite the fact that the reality is very different for many mothers. This presentation will identify and discuss common themes that emerged from the two research studies while acknowledging that both studies drew attention to the unique challenges each group faces. The first study was a narrative study with HIV positive mothers and the second study explored maternal mental distress with a group of mothers using a feminist research methodology. The findings from these two studies established that the women did not want to be defined by their condition/diagnosis and their primary identify was as mothers.