Monday, September 08, 2008

Is it Just Me?

...or is this whole combining motherhood and work thing getting out of hand?

I'm all for women doing fulfilling work and, lord knows, mothers need something for themselves--especially when kids are young (why do you think I started GTTSB?). But do we really want to encourage pregnant women to jet set around to meetings while their amniotic fluid is leaking? Or zipping back to work, only three days post-partum? It's bad enough that the womens' magazines trumpet losing baby-fat in a month...as if cellulite should be your biggest concern when the baby is 3 weeks old.

Give the body a rest, y'all. We don't expect Teddy Kennedy back in the Senate three days after his brain surgery... Does Sarah Palin really believe that the Alaska electorate is so heartless, that they wouldn't let her lie down for a couple of days? Are they? What's wrong with this country that it can't accept that pregnacy and delivery is one of the most traumatic things that will happen to a woman's body. Why do women (want to) pretend that it's just a quick in-and-out of the hospital and then, back-to-business.

Dirty-footprints had a nice post, cautioning about too much multi-tasking. You can't avoid some multi-tasking with a family--if you want everyone to eat and still get to bed in time for Mama to do some blogging--but it shouldn't drive you into a frenzy. I can almost hear the health insurance crowd foaming at the mouth to get new mothers out of the hospital in 24 hours. ("Still bleeding? Well, here's an adult diaper. Good luck!")

I practiced, and taught yoga, through my own two pregnancies and I think part of the reason everything went so well was that I cleared space for myself and listened to my body. I practiced pranayama every nite for the last two trimesters and stayed home for 6 weeks after both boys were born (very grateful for that opportunity, of course). I slowed it down, because my body had to slow down--shouldn't every mother allow herself to do that? Shouldn't every mother be able to?

Jeez, Sweden is looking better all the time...

6 comments:

Jen said...

Amen!!

Unknown said...

beautifully written. a second "amen" from me!
*

Anonymous said...

Interesting article...and such good discussion fodder. At first, it was really hard for me to be home because I was used to working. Now when I go back it's going to be really hard, and I'm going to miss my kids even more I think.

Another thought...the US is among the worst countries in the world for maternity leave and benefits. It doesn't seem like Palin would be a VP who would push to improve that ranking. Which will be too bad...

Anonymous said...

Very cool!

Beyond Race
http://www.beyondrace.com

Anonymous said...

My stomach still lurches every time I see the word Sweden!!!

Stephanie

A Yoga Mama is a Rama Mama said...

I couldn't agree more! The other day I was flipping pages through one of the gossip rags and saw Jessica Alba bikini ready after she had a baby three months ago and a month after me! I about threw the magazine across the room, but instead took in a deep inhale and exhaled my anger out.

It's been tough bouncing back after baby. Like you so eloquently wrote, we probably shouldn't even use the term "bounce" after a woman has a baby. From my perspective, it's more of a crawl, and I think I'm finally okay with that. :) Maybe that's the key.