Motherhood is a significant and vital aspect of life for many women. In communities where motherhood is highly desired, women consider motherhood a crucial aspect of their identity, despite the increased challenges and responsibilities. Women in tertiary institutions face particular challenges and vulnerabilities when they get pregnant during their time of study or before their studies. After giving birth, student mothers have to commit to the dual roles of mother and student, which are time-consuming and need attention. The objectives of the study were to explore, using the grounded theory method, the lived experiences of student mothers at the University of Botswana; to explore support services given to student mothers; to describe ways of coping with dual roles of being a student and a mother and to make recommendations on how the institution could support the needs of student mothers. This study used qualitative inquiry methods to explore student mothers' lived experiences in tertiary institutions. We collected data using face-to-face in-depth interviews with an openended questionnaire with eight (8) University of Botswana student mothers. We obtained a research permit from the University of Botswana research authorities, and student mothers sought consent. The findings of this study revealed that 87.5% of respondents find dual roles challenging. Most student mothers resumed their studies within seven (7) days after giving birth, while their stitches were not healed, hence the title, "Pulling Their Bodies – Bodies in Stitches: Lived Experiences of Student Mothers in Tertiary Institutions: A Case of the University of Botswana. Some student mothers enjoy motherhood because they have the support of their parents, relatives, academic staff, classmates, and significant others. In contrast, some student mothers face challenges because of a lack of support from family and significant others, resulting in fatigue and stress. Most student mothers have the support of family and significant others acting as buffers against stress. For some student mothers, 37.5% received double-bind messages from significant others who supported them. The messages contradicted the promised support, sending conflicting messages to student mothers. Furthermore, most student mothers reported a lack of protective policies, programs, and laws to support student mothers. The article concludes that institutions and relevant stakeholders must develop context-specific strategies to address the needs of student mothers. This will create an enabling environment for student mothers to assume both roles of mother and student with fewer challenges and achieve desirable results

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