I’ve done a dozen interviews this week for PUSH BACK: Guilt in the Age of Natural Parenting and I’ve repeatedly been told, “I wish I had this book when my children were small; I thought I was alone.”
It’s very gratifying to hear this, but it’s also distressing. So many new mothers feel battered down and guilt ridden by the philosophies of natural parenting, yet they don’t realize that others are out there who can support them and whom they can support.
How can we help new mothers realize that they don’t have to battle the pressure alone? How can we help them connect with other like-minded women for mutual support? One possible way it to share personal stories, so today I’m opening up the blog to you, my wonderful readers, to offer support to struggling new mothers.
How did you PUSH BACK against the expectations of the natural childbirth industry?
How did you PUSH BACK against the intense pressure to breastfeed exclusively when your instincts were telling you that exclusive breastfeeding was not working for your baby and for you?
How did you PUSH BACK against the philosophy of attachment parenting — which renders women’s emotional, physical and intellectual needs irrelevant — and return to work or carve out alone time or both?
Mothering is hard enough without the pressures of these philosophies. Help me help new mothers PUSH BACK.
