Difficult Challenges New Moms Face
You just had a baby and you should be feeling all the joy and laughter holding on to your new born. But things are not as expected. Instead of feeling all the happiness you thought it came with, there are more challenges than anything. What are some challenges new moms face?
Breastfeeding
Just when you thought breastfeeding looked so simple, it doesn’t come that way. Did you think just latching the baby on your boobs would make the baby do the work for you? Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. It takes so much more work than anyone ever excepts it.
Breastfeeding is a huge team work between the baby, the mom, spouse (if present), and anyone else in the baby’s life. It’s a learning process that both the mom and the baby must endure first before support comes in. There’s always the lactation consultants who provide you with as much advice as possible.
Sleep Deprivation Challenge
Sleep when the baby sleeps they say. Rest when the baby rests. As much as this advice sounds great, it’s not a realistic as it seems. When the baby sleeps, you might want to grab that sandwich you didn’t finish for lunch. Or when the baby sleeps, you want to take a warm bath that you haven’t taken in days.
Whether you are feeding on demand or on a schedule, the first few months of the baby’s life will end up with you having sleep deprivation. Instead of sleep when the baby sleeps, you need to sleep whenever your can. You need to find that resting time whenever you can, because baby’s will not tell you when you can.
Related New Mom
Self-Care Needs
Did you have a natural birth or a c-section? Does it matter? Absolutely not because postpartum care needs are for everyone. I don’t believe in comparing who had a worst birth story or not. I believe the matter is how to care for yourselves after giving birth.
With the lack of time you get, you have a wound to heal and a birth to recover from. No one warns you about how your body will react or heal because everyone is different. Some people will walk around like nothing the very next day, while others need to lay in bed for weeks to recover.
Postpartum Blues/Depression/Anxiety
Emotional roller coasters are flying high as the days after birth arise. Unexpected feelings of anger, frustration, and sadness appears, as new moms are faced with so many tasks. You can read more on Many Different Hats Of Motherhood
Some emotions pop up unknowingly and are difficult to deal with as well. Postpartum are felt among many new moms as a feeling of uncertainties, blurry, brain fog, and sad. It’s a very similar feeling to depression, and are often mistaken for it.
There are many moms who also get postpartum depression without having histories of depression too. It can be the fluctuating hormones that play a role or just a mixed of emotions that are held inside.
Postpartum anxiety is also a huge part of what are new mom challenges because so much is expected from them. Being a mom comes with so much responsibilities that even with support, it’s challenging. I myself dealt with postpartum anxiety (which i didn’t know at the time) and had some difficult time overcoming it.
Lack Of Me Time
Being a new mom comes with losing a lot of your self. The title of “Mom” takes over and the “Me” becomes suppressed in many ways. The constant need of the baby, taking care of the family needs (if you have other children), and the household chores will predominantly take control of you. Getting time to eat or even take a bathroom break can be a huge task, let alone a shower time.
As time passes, what are new mom challenges become manageable. The first six months to a year takes a lot of adjusting and time consuming changes but things will work out in your best interest. Just keep in mind that it’s common to see what are some challenges new moms face by many and that you are not alone.
What are some of the challenges you faced as a new mom? Were you able to overcome them? Are any of the listed above items some that are relatable?
Feel free to drop your comments…
It was just me and my husband when our daughter was born. I remember having anxiety and little time to take care of myself. So hard without a support system. It’s one reason why we only have one.
My midwife gave the best recovery advice, “You have a dinner plate sized wound inside of you. If it was on your leg there wouldn’t be any discussion about staying off it and resting. So rest.”
I second the statements about breastfeeding and lack of sleep being major challenges postpartum. Ugh. Felt like I never had enough sleep, and like all I did was feed the baby. But it passes more quickly than it seems while you’re in the middle. Supportive people around a new mom makes a huge difference!