Our skin stretched beyond its limit.
Rivers and their tributaries etch our bellies changing our landscape.
Our breasts swell, becoming ripe and full to nourish the seeds within.
Our faces are sometimes masked with spots and freckles we did not have before.
Our hair changes texture and temperament.
Our minds and psyche are hampered and tampered with moodiness, melancholy and depression. Sometimes fleeting sometimes not.
Motherhood is joy they say, and we should smile, while in reality we hide tears, fears and feelings that no one should speak of. If we do speak out, we are shamed, made to feel less of and there are consequences.
Parts of motherhood are hidden in the dark, but still we should smile, they say.
When will it be OK to speak our truth so it can be brought to light? When can shame be transmuted into support, so our smiles now sincere no longer mask what was hidden in the dark.
I wrote this after speaking with a good friend of mine and learning how devastating prepartum and postpartum depression was for her. How she was ostracized, lost her son to a system that did not help mothers that suffered with prepartum or postpartum depression. She has had 3 children and suffered depression with each pregnancy.
D. Gushue
21 June 2020