Making it as a New Mom

Most new moms will agree that it’s difficult to describe the emotions they feel when they hold their tiny bundles of joy in their arms. Of course happiness and awe are common feelings, but other emotions often come into play—unexpected feelings that range from confusion to self-doubt to anxiety.

The first 30 days of being a new mom comes complete with a roller coaster of emotions, steep learning curve and challenges of every kind. The excitement of a new baby is often mixed with exhaustion and tension, a phenomenon that can startle new moms. You may feel blissful and content one minute, and tearfully overwhelmed the next. Remember, you’re not alone—300,000 women around the world give birth every day. And most women rank becoming a new mom as the most profound change they’ve ever experienced.

There are many challenges that you may face in the first 30 days, including extreme fatigue, uncertainty in your abilities, changing dynamics with your husband or partner, postpartum blues (PPB), postpartum depression (PPD), expectations from family and friends and the responsibility for a new human being. Moms on their second, third or fourth child have the additional challenge of caring for a newborn while still catering to the needs of their other children. Some families are faced with the difficulty of a very sick or special needs baby.

Every woman deals with the challenge of new motherhood differently—there is no one right way. “Every mother can be a success story,” says Joelle Jay, life coach and co-author of Baby on Board: Becoming a Mother Without Losing Yourself. “When a woman opens her heart to her baby and truly embraces this new role, she is a success. Each mother’s experience has something to inspire other new mothers.”