Award winning Franchise BabyBeats has been at the forefront of pre and post natal services over the last 5 years… they now plan to expand their extensive repertoire by adding on further antenatal services to women to not just physically but mentally help them deal with the physiological, hormonal and mental changes that happen between pregnancy and though baby’s first few months. We asked why this is needed…
It’s true, after having children, things are never the same. Your days are turned upside down, your sense of time goes out of the window, you think differently, your sense of identity is challenged your relationships alter, a good night’s sleep becomes a dim and distant memory, you’re lucky if you get a hot drink in the first three months and that’s before you think about physical changes!
Having a baby is a hugely significant event in any woman’s life. It’s an integral part of our life story. And like any other chapter how we ‘write’ it is up to us. The problem that we come up against is that society and the media have some weirdly unrealistic ideas and ideals about how women should look and once you add post baby body into that mix the majority of us will fall short (I did long before giving birth!) and all too often an exhausted new mum will succumb to these pressures and may begin to feel lacking, unattractive and despondent.
When you’re reading messages about getting back to pre ‘babyness’, ask yourself – who’s sending these messages and why? Do they really have your (and I mean your) best interest at heart? Are they really interested in helping you experience your best story? The same goes for social media. So much pressure to appear the right way, doing the right things and so on. So much pretence and artifice. Is that the story you want to make yourself miserable for?
Pregnancy and birth are traumatic events for your body and nurturing it back to health is a process. How would you react to an amazing, trusted friend who had been with you all your life and always been there for you, if they experienced a major trauma? Would you tell them after a few weeks that they needed to get over it? Would you tell them about people who had recovered and compare their pain to other’s success? Would you fill their world with unrealistic expectations and ignore their needs for recovery?
Absolutely not!
You’d ask them what they needed. You’d be there practically and emotionally. You’d find little ways to show them how great they are and that you care about them. You’d encourage them, give them space and time when they needed it and remind them that you’re there for them no matter what or how long it takes for them to find themselves again.
That’s the story you’d have for a trusted friend. You can have it for yourself and your amazing body.
Your own story is the one thing you can absolutely choose. There may be external factors that make things tricky at times, but you are always in total control in terms of how you respond. So, I invite all you amazing women out there to begin to think about the stories you tell yourselves.
