One Smart Mother: The Blog

No, this post will not focus on postpartum mood disorders. I am referring to a yet to be named phenomenon that contemporary women face during the transition to motherhood. The flood of information – websites, blogs, magazines, books and other traditional media – brings my own self-described information-seeking mind to the brink of overload. New and aspiring mothers can turn to hundreds of sources, then toss around their findings with their friends or on their own blogs. After all the filtering, what is the information that is not just someone’s take on these topics, but research and experience driven “facts”? If one has authored a book, is that the criteria for “expert”? In the 1960′s, women absorbed their copy of Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care, trusted their pediatricians and filtered advice from family and friends. While the choices were miniscule in comparison to our information universe, was this a less neurotic grasp at “getting it right”? One Smart Mother loves Lisa Belkin’s Motherlode. Ms. Belkin can turn out important information in a smart and friendly format and her bio speaks for itself. Thank you to Lisa Belkin for being a trustworthy guide in this sea of quasi-educated opinionated information.

Isolation, breastfeeding, financial strain, exhaustion, identity shift…

If we were aware of the trappings of new motherhood, how many of us would make the commitment?  Despite our standing in life, some things remain constant for all of us when we decide we want to become mothers. Like a lot of other crucial life decisions, we weight the pros and cons. To some, our emotions outweigh the practicalities of the choice. Others agonize over the more concrete – finances, health risk, etc.

The goal of my work – my passion – is to educate women -  to empathize and guide through this most important life transition. If we proactively look at the choices involved in becoming a mother, we are more likely to enter motherhood confidently. With less surprises after the baby arrives, we can more fully  enjoy this beautiful time.