HOW ALL WOMEN CAN FREE THEMSELVES FROM MOTHERHOOD-RELATED SHAME...

Whether or not we become mothers, almost all women suffer from at least one form of "motherhood shame" during their lifetime...

Motherhood shame tends to fall in these five categories... <3 .

A) Shame for NOT BEING A MOTHER...

1. Shame for not wanting to be a mother. 2. Shame for not being able to be a mother. 3. Shame for not having a partner in order to be a mother. 4. Shame for having fertility problems. 5. Shame for having had an abortion. 6. Shame for having had a miscarriage. 7. Shame for having put one's child up for adoption. .

B) Shame over our FEELINGS in motherhood...

8. Shame for not feeling happy in pregnancy. 9. Shame for not bonding with our baby at first sight. 10. Shame for not feeling what we are supposed to feel in motherhood. 11. Shame for not feeling what we are supposed to feel as an adoptive mother. 12. Shame for having Postpartum Depression, Anxiety, Anger, or Regret 13. Shame for not liking being a mother. .

C) Shame for "FAILING" THE BEGINNING of motherhood...

14. Shame for having pregnancy problems. 15. Shame for not behaving properly during the ultrasound/prenatal visits. 16. Shame for the baby not being healthy 17. Shame for giving birth prematurely. 18. Shame for not having a vaginal/natural birth. 19. Shame for having birth complications 20. Shame for not breastfeeding (at all or well enough) .

D) Shame for not being a GOOD ENOUGH mother

21. Shame for not being a good enough mother 22. Shame for not being good enough at "parenting" 23. Shame for not doing enough parenting research 24. Shame for yelling too much 25. Shame that our life circumstances are not perfect 26. Shame that our partner isn't good enough 27. Shame that we are a single or divorced mother 28. Shame that we don't have enough money, energy, or time to parent in the way we would like. 29. Shame over the timing or number of our children. .

E) Shame over our CHILD'S BEHAVIOUR/personality/etc.

30. Shame over our baby's crying 31. Shame over our child's bad behaviour 32. Shame over our child's sleep problems 33. Shame over our child's eating/pooing/peeing problems 34. Shame over our child's personality being different 35. Shame over our child's performance at school 36. Shame over our child's health problems/special needs .

You will know that you are suffering from motherhood shame if these thoughts and feelings keep haunting you... They won't leave you alone. <3 .

So if I have just listed 36 types of motherhood-related shame... then why do we never talk about them?

Why are they so taboo?

Who do we only have the words "Anxiety" and "Depression" in our vocabularies? .

It's because we are socialized to not...

i) Identify our Emotions

ii) Talk about our Emotions

iii) Figure out WHY we have these Emotions

iv) Free ourselves from these Emotions...

v) Feel Emotionally Free and Empowered .

Instead, there are very strict societal "Feeling Rules" that tell us exactly how we must feel in all situations... so we try as hard as we can to feel that way... :( .

But it doesn't have to be this way...

We CAN feel emotionally free! <3 .

Let me know if you'd like me to help you free yourself from your motherhood shame... or fatherhood shame... or any other shame for that matter.

To your Happiness & Empowerment...

Marni Penner Anxiety Coach, Depression Coach, Happiness Coach