Spit-up On My Shoulder

I’d like to share with you a letter of mine that appeared in the January 2007 issue of OC Family. OC is for Orange County, California, like the TV show. If you live in Orange or surrounding counties you can pick up a copy of the magazine for free at libraries and other places families hang out. The January issue has a picture of Erin Gruwell, the real-life teacher from “Freedom Writers”, on the cover.

Here is my letter:

As a postpartum doula and mother, I’ve found that pregnant women are often not being told the truth about the early months of motherhood. Even in this information age, we still paint an inaccurate picture of life after birth as all bliss. While writing my new book, I saw how the glorified images of motherhood can contribute to a new mother’s feelings of isolation and inadequacy.

Pregnant women need to know that it’s healthy to accept all the help they can get, that breastfeeding doesn’t always come easily, that caring for a baby is a full-time job, and that postpartum hormones can be highly unpredictable. I challenge your readers to find ways to lessen the difficulties of the months after birth for themselves and other moms. If we all can reach out to new mothers and offer them assistance, then early motherhood could be a time of more joy, and fewer regrets, for so many women.

New mothers deserve hands-on help, encouragement, and support. I’ve yet to meet a mother who felt she had enough of those three things.

Signed,
Melanie Bowden, who grew up in Riverside, but now lives in Davis, California