When a baby is a born, the newborn generally becomes the center of everyone’s attention.
But recently when a photographer captured this beautiful moment of a new mom, it made people think about the other side of the story. In this heart-touching picture, she captured the painful and heart-wrenching experiences that a mom goes through during this period.
Alex Dovel shot the photograph after her friend Tammy Wright gave birth to a baby on May 20th. The photo captures an exhausted mother holding the side of her hospital bed, that made many moms relate to her pain.
Alex shared the photo on her Facebook page with the following message:
“In the hustle of the room I peered over at my friend bent over in pain. Baby had just been born and everyone was surrounding the miracle that happened before our eyes and naturally everyone was in awe of him.
But I was especially in awe of her. I saw you, mama.
I saw the pain in your eyes and in your face and in your body. Because this is now a new season called postpartum.
We tend to forget our mamas when babies are around.
We ask how baby is, what does baby need, can we hold the baby, can we buy this for the baby but… what about mama?
Let us not forget the hard work she endured to carry this child AND the hard road ahead to mother and heal and feed and rest and parent her other children also.
What do mamas really need?
Meals dropped off, someone to watch baby so they can shower, solid childcare for her other children, house cleaners to stop by and help out. Heating pads and coffee and comfy PJs. Maybe fast food. Or a friend to fold laundry. Maybe a new movie to watch or your Netflix login.
Let’s not forget the mamas.
It’s just so easy to because women are incredibly strong and seem to have it all together but they need the support and the extra hands more than ever entering into that fourth trimester.”
The photo of a new mom has since gone viral racking up more than 200,000 likes, and thousands of moms shared how the picture perfectly sums up the stress of motherhood.
After reading the post and looking at the great response, Tammy, the new mother, also shared her inspiring words on social media:
“Alex’s words are to not only open the eyes of others during this time after labor, but to possibly open up the hearts of others to lend a hand and more support to all women during this time . Even if we don’t say we need you , deep down we appreciate all those who are willing to help.”
Another mother shared experiences from her own life:
“When both my sons were born when my dad came in the room he first came over to ME and gave me a kiss, how are you, good job, I’m proud of you then went to the boys. It was so sweet, I’ll never ever forget that!”
It’s high time that we need to change our attitude towards mothers. We have to challenge the age-old thought that it’s only the baby that needs to be center of attention. It is equally important to keep our focus on the person most affected in this process – the Mother.
