Guest Blog - Iona Hickman #motherhooditsanotherhood
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#motherhooditsanotherhood
When I first became a mother in 2017 I found it really hard.
Other mums seemed to be taking it all in their stride and finding it a breeze, yet I was struggling – with loss of identity, breastfeeding, sleep deprivation and anal fissures (look them up they are no joke!!). Like any mum sat cuddling her baby I spent hours on Instagram and was bombarded with images of angelic photos of motherhood, this only made me feel more alone and more like a failure. So what did I do?
I called my closest girlfriends who were already mothers and spoke the truth, I laid bare my struggles and the difficulties I was facing despite my love for Mila (my daughter) and the privilege of becoming a mother.
I didn’t have to wait long for the responses to come flooding in about their struggles, their truths, things I had not been privy too before becoming a mum and offloading on them. Suddenly I didn’t feel alone, I felt supported and understood, I wasn’t a terrible mother it’s just hard and many don’t share the truth.
I decided it was time to break the stigma on social media. I wanted the reality of motherhood to make it onto Instagram grids, so I created #motherhooditsanotherhood.
A # fellow mums can follow to see the truths of motherhood laid bare, to feel supported and to know not everyday is perfect or serene. My mission is to ensure no mother feels alone or like she is failing.
So now my challenge to you, is to head to Instagram and share a motherhood truth on your grid using #motherhooditsanotherhood. By doing this you are helping to support other mums and rally together to break the stigma and shed light on the less glam sides of motherhood (don’t feel the image you post needs to reflect the truth you share).
Encourage other mothers you know to do the same, let’s support each other and share our motherhood truths for all to see – so no mother feels alone or like she is failing xxx
Bio:
Graphic designer and illustratior, mother to Mila (4 years old) with another on the way in April, and owner of eyeownadesign.
Read more about #motherhooditsanotherhood here.
See more of Iona over at:
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