The birth of a child is also that of a mother, and society abounds with double-standards placed on the latter. Navigating wild emotional and physical changes while getting acquainted with a baby is bound to be hugely challenging. Increasingly, women around the world have been advocating a return to ancient notions of sisterhood, and of knowledge and wisdom sharing amongst women, to ease the journey.
Here are 5 mothers actively empowering other women through social media!
© Ashley Jennett (@thestorkandthebeanstalk)
Dori Varga had recently moved far from her hometown of Budapest when she got married, settled in San Diego and became pregnant. One of three sisters, she missed the deep connection and support from other women, which is how Tribe de Mama was born. It is a collaborative online magazine, connecting and inspiring women –mama stands for women in general, by hinting at their nurturing potential, both literally and creatively. What started online has grown into a real life community, with Tribe de Mama gatherings taking place around the world.
© Kristen Hedges
Kristen Hedges struggled with the realization that much is said about birthing experiences, but the narrative often stops there. Yet what a woman goes through after can be just as trying –if not more. This is why in addition to sharing her story on Happy Sleepy Folks, she edited a collection of raw, blunt stories written by other mothers: Mama, bare. Mother to a young girl, she tells other mothers “in all of your wild messiness and uncertainty, you are not alone”.
© Sophie Ward
Sophie Ward created The Mama Haven, a website on which she shares interviews with other creative women, and a platform where she offers her services as a wellness mentor. Her approach is threefold, and involves pre-conception coaching, using a holistic approach to women’s bodies that takes into account both the spiritual and practical concerns that come with trying to conceive. She also offers pregnancy coaching, helping women navigate external factors by helping them focus on what they feel is best for them and their unborn child. Finally, she proposes post-partum creative empowerment, emphasizing the need to nurture one’s creative identity in order to be nurturing to others.
© Melissa Jean Wilbraham
Birth photographer Melissa Jean Wilbraham shares some of the moments she captures on her blog and Instagram page. The result is a mosaic of portraits of mothers and families from all horizons –Wilbraham travels a fourth of the year to photograph births. She shares images of women supporting each other on their journey, fathers meeting their firstborn child, but also photos that tell tales of everyday life: bath time, breastfeeding, slow afternoons at home. In doing so, she cultivates a sense of community –literally, through social media, and figuratively– in showing how universal the raw experience of motherhood can be.
© Kesha Phillips
Kesha Phillips is an African American mother who created We Got Kidz to keep an account of her motherhood journey with twins. Overtime, it has grown into a lifestyle and parenting blog, on which you’ll find father’s day breakfast recipes and other developmental articles and health tips, including ways to care for a child’s curly natural hair. Phillips finds it deplorable that black motherhood and parenting is not hugely represented on social media, and she is doing her part to change the situation, empowering other women along the way.
In what ways do you empower the women around you?
