When we asked mothers to share their truths about their postpartum experience for yesterday’s post, we were overwhelmed by the positive response. So many moms echoed our sentiment that it’s crucial to speak openly and honestly about the challenges of the postpartum transition. They told us that they’re so excited about this project and happy to help in any way. To us, sharing our authentic truth about our postpartum struggles serves 2 important purposes:
- Sharing our postpartum truth helps to normalize this experience for other mothers and lifts them up in helping them feel a sense of universality and solidarity. Nobody should feel alone.
- Truth heals: Sharing our postpartum truth helps us heal.
So many of us share this truth well after our postpartum days are over. We finally feel like we have a handle on this motherhood thing and, now that we’re not drowning in overwhelm, anxiety, or shame, we can go back to that place and speak the truth about it. But what if we could encourage moms who are living this right now to share their truths right now? I can only imagine how much sooner I might have reached a place of healing and self-acceptance if I had felt safe sharing those words, “I wish I hadn’t done this. I’m not a good mother”, when I was thinking them. Most likely, I would have been met with responses of love, understanding, and acceptance, thus allowing me to shed that layer of shame and guilt.
Some may fear that we’re encouraging negativity and hosting a pity party over here. I worried about that potential perception when I began encouraging moms to share their truths. But I know all too well that perpetuating the idea that we need to stuff down our ugly thoughts and pretend they’re not there is harmful and only leads mamas to more sadness and feelings of shame. We want to encourage mothers to share their truths because that’s where the real strength comes from. Be vulnerable and you will find your strength. Share your truth and you will have taken your first step on your journey of healing.
It won’t be just healing and truth sharing either. We’ll be having a conversation about what to do to ease your
postpartum transition. We’ll be sharing ideas for getting the social support that you need to be as well as you can be during these early days with your baby and we’ll be talking a lot about self-care. Getting support and practicing self-care can feel like a mirage in the desert for tired and overwhelmed postpartum mamas. We’ll use our professional expertise and knowledge as mothers to help make these things more attainable, providing actionable tips and encouragement along the way. We’ll ask for your ideas along the way too because we know there is so much wisdom out there amongst you mamas. And finally, we plan to help new mamas during the process of finding their village. We both know that even one person who is experiencing what you are, or has recently experienced it, is far more helpful than 10 people who might want to help, but don’t really understand.
We hope you’ll join us and let the new mamas in your life know that we’re here. If you haven’t yet, help us start the conversation by harnessing the power of social media and sharing your postpartum truth with “#truthheals”.