My Quicky on "Mommy Shaming"
It’s Mental Health Awareness Month and I’m all about bringing the awareness!!
Place me in the group that will both support a mom breastfeeding her child and the mothers who choose not to for their own reasons, or who just cannot. I'm simply a supporter of motherhood in all forms.
I’ve learned many new things while being pregnant. One is the amount of judgement I put on moms before I was pregnant. I simply didn’t understand what they all went through. I would hear someone didn’t breastfeed and not understand why they didn’t––”Isn’t breast best??”
Or I would see babies screaming in a grocery store and think, “Why did they even bring them to the store? This isn’t a place for a baby.”
I would ask invasive questions like, “Are you breastfeeding? Is your baby sleeping through the night? Are you feeling exhausted?” All questions that were NOT my business.
I am openly apologizing and admitting I was wrong.
I see mothers breastfeed for 9 months, then feed their child fastfood pizza before they are one year old. I see mothers bottle feed from day one, and then feed their children fruit/veggie diets as soon as they can eat solids. Moms who go back to work right away, but spend every minute with baby on weekends. Moms who spend every second with their child, but still suffer postpartum depression and don’t feel a bond with their babies. And each one of these women will be verbally shamed by SOMEONE for their decisions.
My friends, this NEEDS to stop.
We walk around acting like we know everyone’s lives/stories better than they know their own. We tell them what is right or what is wrong based on OUR biases and never take the time to consider their medical background, financial status, support system, career, & everything in between.
Even if we don’t agree with another mom’s decision—we need to stop worrying about the choices of others and focus on our own.
I’m working very hard on not being a super strong advocate when it comes to mommyhood. I’m simply PRO MOTHERHOOD.
What motherhood means to me is doing what is best for YOU, YOUR family, YOUR baby, and doing it with immense levels of love and the very best you can.