Crossword Genius

The strain of motherhood (6,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

cradle song

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'motherhood' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't judge whether this works.

'the strain' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'strain' could be 'song' (synonyms) and 'song' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'cradle' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'of' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for cradle song that I've seen is " Lullaby".)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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