The Long Beach woman gave birth to son James five months ago. I was naive. Even being warned that parenthood was hard had not prepared her. I had feelings of being incompetent as a mother. And you feel like you're the only one who is.
Studies confirm that many mothers find the postpartum months unexpectedly difficult.
The physical recovery from pregnancy and childbirth is also a more drawn-out process than women typically expect, researchers have found. A 1993 study by a University of Minnesota rsearcher found that, three months after delivery, many women experience physical problems such as poor appetite, fatigue, hemorrhoids, constipation, hot flashes, pain during sexual intercourse, respiratory infections. Even at nine months postpartum, many women said they had vaginal discomfort and constipation. They focus on the baby and don't realize that the mother's adjustment is the key element in caring for the baby. There is a new body of research showing that babies develop differently based on the mother's adjustment.