Real Advice for Moms-to-Be: How to Win at Parenting Without Losing Yourself
When I became a mom, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I was a Stanford-trained pediatrician, I had been in private practice for several years —I thought I knew it all. Still, I was unprepared for the parts of early motherhood that eventually contributed to months of Postpartum Depression and Anxiety. I wish someone had sat me down and gone through what to expect in the first weeks and months in a very real, unfiltered way.
Now, my greatest joy is educating and inspiring new and expectant moms so they are more prepared than I was as they make their motherhood transitions. My goal is to help them build confidence with their little ones and to find the resources they need.
I see so many consistent themes as women transition into motherhood, the most common of which is shock at the paradigm shift when they find themselves suddenly responsible not only for the well-being but also the survival of another human being—shock at the lack of information they had going into the whole baby thing. Sure, moms-to-be learn a lot of tips and tricks about baby gear and birth plans, but because sometimes it’s hard to think past what’s right in front of them, they never get past the whole labor-and-delivery-planning mindset.
After the baby arrives, they feel, well, blindsided. There is so much transition and the learning curve is incredibly steep. Add in sleep deprivation and feeding woes and bam! Instant intimidation. In the end, the most successful (or at least peaceful) parents I meet do two things well: they set realistic expectations and they make a plan for self-care early on. They understand that, although we’ve modernized the baby gear industry, infants still have primitive needs for food, comfort, and security when they first arrive. In The Newborn Baby Blueprint, I give new moms and moms-to-be the information and inspiration to get through it all—to win at parenting without losing themselves.
