The best kept secret in motherhood?

 Sometimes it sucks.

Tantrums, butt wiping, food negotiations, a car that’s never clean, sleep deprivation on par with torture techniques…I know you feel me, mamas.

But for some moms, 20% of us actually, it sucks for a whole other set of reasons. For some moms, motherhood sucks because it messes with our mental health. In other words, for 1 in 5 mamas, it literally screws us up.

Wanna add to the “that sucks” pile? For some completely unhelpful reason, mom’s emotional state is still a taboo topic that no one really talks about. We have so many resources for helping moms with what they DO and how they parent but we have very few places that help moms with how they FEEL. That needs to change.

Hey Mamas!

I’m Jen Schwartz, the Founder of MOTHERHOOD | UNDERSTOOD.  

 I’m a pretty typical mom. 

• I have an insane and insanely cute kid.
• I love him somedays.
• I can’t stand him other days.
• I ache for my pre-mom days.
• I love watching my son sleep.
• I want to drink tequila by the bottle but I’m old AF and can’t handle my liquor anymore.

Here’s where I’m a bit a-typical: I’m a postpartum depression and postpartum anxiety survivor and continue to battle mental health issues well past my postpartum days.

And on my search to find other stories like mine, I realized there was a hole in the mommy-sphere for those 1 in 5 moms like me, who battle maternal mental health issues—scary stuff like postpartum depression and postpartum anxiety, ongoing depression and a ton of other brain chemistry issues that hinder us from feeling like successful moms. None of the other mommy bloggers I loved and followed were talking to me about…well, me.

And that’s why I — [one of those 20% suffering and (surviving!) from screwed up brain chemistry caused by having my adorable son] — gave birth to MOTHERHOOD | UNDERSTOOD — a way to speak to the 20% of moms who battle mental health issues that’s empathy-driven, funny, brave, honest, norm-breaking and has one sole focus: how mom is FEELING and how I can help her through that. Not how she’s PARENTING. How she’s FEELING. Big freakin’ difference.

Kind of revolutionary. Kind of a game-changing POV.

I see moms for who they are, not for what they accomplish. Because I’ve been there. On bathroom floors and in my bed, which I thought l’d never get out of. And I know that moms — all moms, but especially those suffering emotionally — crave to be understood. And here, she is.

Bottom line, mamas: I love your kids. They’re super cute. But, I love you way more.