Motherhood is such a big change in a woman’s life she cannot be expected to do it alone,because everything is so new. She has nothing to compare it with, no other life experience can prepare her for what to expect.
So, who does she need? Where should this support come from?
In this day and age of modern technology we often put all our faith and trust in medical science, then feel sad and cheated because something is missing from the experience.
It was harder than expected. It didn’t come naturally.
The next thing a New Mother might say is: ‘What is wrong with me?’
There is nothing wrong with You!
You just didn’t understand that having a baby is actually an emotionaland spiritual experience, not just a physical one.
How a Mother feels emotionally about her pregnancy and her parenting journey, can actually affect how she births her baby, so it is so important to look after her emotional wellbeing, and make this a priority, not an after-thought.
Your team can consist of your Primary Carer – be it GP, Hospital Team, or Private Obstetrician or Midwife, but this can also include your WELLNESS TEAM:
- your life coach, birth support person or active birth educator, psychologist or counsellor
- your physiotherapist, osteopath, chiropractor, acupuncturist and reflexologist.
Interestingly,the Practitioner Midwife actually falls into both camps, she has medical knowledge and understanding about the whole process of pregnancy, birth and the first 6 weeks, but she also understands the emotional changes that occur throughout this time, and part of her skill is to be a ‘raft to cling onto when things get tough’, when the hormones are all over the place, and things are not going to plan!
We also understand the importance of WELLNESS from within.
Everyone has their place in looking after your wellbeing, because different people give you different perspectives on things, and this can bring you great comfort and confidence.
Let us look at past generations and different cultures: they really understood that having a baby was a‘rite of passage’and it was given the respect and significance it deserved.
Nowadays we are supposed to give birth and just carry on as if nothing has happened.
How can that be? Why have we come so far from these ancient traditions which were made to protect Mother and Child?
The emphasis and therefore funding for care, only recognises pregnancy, there are hardly any resources spent on the postnatal period, so Mothers are just left to survive, isolated, and trying to find someone to help them, but not knowing where or who to turn to.
The resources which are available, ran by the council, are so overworked and overwhelmed that their time with new mothers is limited and fragmented at best.
The Mothers are therefore left believing that obviously they should be able to cope.
No, no, no. It is society that has got it wrong, not these dear Mothers.