What baby may be — innocent, clutching mater excitedly (9)
I believe the answer is:
premature
'what baby may' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'innocent clutching mater excitedly' is the wordplay.
'innocent' becomes 'pure' (I've seen this in another clue).
'clutching' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'excitedly' indicates an anagram (letters excited or stimulated into a new form).
'mater' with letters rearranged gives 'remat'.
'pure' enclosing 'remat' is 'PREMATURE'.
'be' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for premature that I've seen before include "Too soon or too hasty" , "Untimely" , "not fully developed" , "Over-hasty" , "Occurring before the expected time" .)