This article was written and originally published by mother.ly here. I always see hashtags on Instagram like #BeatTheMomBod or #BounceBack after someone has a baby—but why? There's an enormous pressure put on postpartum women to return to our pre-pregnancy shape. Whether it's someone you know showing off how they returned to their pre-baby weight in just six weeks or a headline sharing how a Hollywood actress was back in her pre-prego bikini just four months postpartum. Advice all over the internet that tells women they can "bounce back' and erase the fact that they've had a baby is ...
The Most Valuable Thing a Parent Can Do for Their Kids
My daughter Tish once came home from school and told me her friend’s parents were getting divorced. She asked, “Mom, will that ever happen to us?” I looked straight at her and said, “No, baby. It won’t. You’re safe.” A year later, her father and I split. When we delivered this news to our kids, I watched my little girl’s face fall as it began to dawn on her that despite my reassurance, what she’d feared had come to pass. As she processed the reality of our ruptured family and my abandoned promise, I felt like a witness to the end of her childhood. It was the single most difficult moment of my ...
Postnatal Depletion—Even 10 Years Later
Consider this: If you’ve had a child within the last decade, you might still be suffering some consequences—lethargy, memory disturbances, and poor energy levels, among other symptoms. And according to Dr. Oscar Serrallach, goop-trusted family practitioner (all the way from rural Australia), it’s not just because being a parent is hard—physically, the process of growing a baby exacts a significant toll. Which is why Serrallach developed The Mother Load, a nourishing, goop natal protocol (that is also great pre-conception and while pregnant as well). As Serrallach explains: The placenta ...
