Maternal Mental Health Truths: ‘I Never Knew Motherhood Would Be Like This’

It is World Maternal Mental Health Day, so let’s talk open and honestly about our postpartum and motherhood journeys. Because chances are what you’re feeling, the mother beside you is feeling it, too.

I never knew motherhood would be like this, would feel like this.

Because no one told me.

Because no one truly talks about motherhood to people who aren’t mums.

I thought the hardest part would be sleep deprivation, because all I ever heard when I was pregnant was ‘enjoy your sleep while you can’. But it’s so much more than that.

I thought being a mum was all nappy changes, sleep schedules, feeding, playing and milestones. But it’s so much more than that.

Being a mother isn’t just guiding the growth of your child, it’s guiding the growth of yourself. In growing and birthing a human, your body has gone through immense change in a relatively short amount of time. That takes some getting used to.

Your mind changes too, and there’s a shift in your emotional state. All of this has a flow-on effect to your relationships with your partner, your children, your family, your friends, and yourself. Once you become a mother, you are forever changed. 

Written for Mama Disrupt® | Read the full feature here.