Motherhood changes everything. Pregnancy and postpartum can be beautiful, painful, confusing, or all at once. Every woman’s experience is valid, but not every woman feels safe sharing it. For some, it may be a positive experience; for others, it may be negative.
Recently, I’ve also become aware that women who do have positive pregnancy and postpartum experiences are sometimes shamed or made to feel uncomfortable for sharing their stories—as if one person’s experience is responsible for another’s.
So how do women heal their stories? How do they heal from their traumatic experiences? How do women help others change the narrative of their experiences if they’re told not to voice them too loudly (oh, to be a woman…)
While every woman’s journey is so incredibly different, it is only through support and creating space, a mother will feel seen and heard.
Maternal mental health challenges come in all shapes and sizes: they all have deep roots that can be shaken during pregnancy and postpartum. These moments can feel especially intense during these periods because life is changing, hormones are fluctuating, old patterns and fears rise, subconscious traumas begin to surface, and new worries and thoughts emerge as a form of protection. The brain is rewiring itself without notice, add in lack of sleep and potential nutritional deficiencies, and the list goes on!!
While on the outside a mother may seem put together, behind closed doors she may be struggling—a struggle that has often been shamed or frowned upon, as if “mothers should know better.” Let’s not forget that a mother is still a woman. She’s still learning about herself, about her body, adjusting, and rewiring herself to live in a world that hasn’t changed for her.
A mother isn’t going crazy.
She’s figuring out life.
She’s raising a human being.
She’s raising herself along the way.
She’s healing parts that go unnoticed to others.
She’s facing fears she’s never known before.
She’s reparenting herself softly and without a blueprint.
Motherhood changes everything for a mother. Don’t try to change her back – help her find her voice, her love, her strength.
