Real Mom’s Real Pressures, Revealed

Being a parent is a momentous task. World over, moms are pumping up beyond their physical capacities – to be there for their families, to contribute to family incomes without neglecting their family duties! A traditional home-bearer’s role has transcended dramatically over the years, thereby converging into homemakers, social networkers, bread winners and more. Point being, the many variables that pressurize moms and their lifestyles are accumulating and piling up in the process.

Recently, Baby Dove carried out a Real Mother’s Heard Survey to comprehend the extent of the pressure that moms across the world face. This survey touched upon some major pain points of mothers, globally and in India.

While Dove, as a brand has always emphasised on ‘Real women’; via this survey, Baby Dove has extended support towards the  wellbeing of moms by allowing an  in-depth analysis of the burgeoning stress that moms are feeling. Obviously then, some of the major findings of this survey are in alignment to what most of us are going through. So for all the real moms out there, read on:

The Pressure To Be Perfect Moms!

Is there even such a thing? Apparently, there is! Parents today read up a lot. And where there isn’t reading in place, there’s the ‘oh-so-eager-to-advice’ mother’s -in-law and mothers. Also, did we mention social media and perfect Instagram stories? Because there is so much in the world around that moms have become the harbingers of “idealized but unrealistic expectations for themselves.”

According to the Baby Dove Real Mother’s Heard Survey, 90% of Indian mothers feel pressurized to be perfect parents while the pressure on moms in the other parts of the world is comparatively lesser.

All That ‘Blah-Blah’

There’s a huge amount of angst among mothers today because they are constantly flooded with overwhelming information on how to be a better parent. Parenting gurus who are calm and composed, do a great job at telling mom’s how to pull it together.

Then of course as mentioned above, there’s the unsolicited advice from diverse forums!  The Baby Dove Real Mother’s Heard Survey reflects that 70% of Indian women feel huge bouts of anxiety because of the spectrum of advice they receive as well as the old wives parenting tales. Not surprisingly, 65% of Indian mothers find it hard to get the balance between using old, trusted remedies compared with new age science medicine . Not only is  the advice  unasked for, but it  adds to an already overflowing pool -, leaving moms doubting their own parenting styles. Another interesting insight showcased that 70% Indian mothers feel overwhelmed by the amount of information and advice there is on how to be a parent.

Women Don’t Like the Way They Look, Postpartum

While I understand the health issues that women feel postpartum, the Baby Dove survey has revealed that a whopping 87% feel pressured to look good. Thankfully, this pressure is lower than in other parts of the world.  What furthers this pressure is that a lot of these moms are willing to surgically modify their bodies. One in two women in India and Brazil feel it is perfectly acceptable to have cosmetic surgery after birth of your baby, while women in other countries are far more reluctant.

50 Shades of Guilt

‘Mommy Guilt’ is a thing and the Baby Dove Real Mother’s Heard Survey  brought this to light. No matter what a woman does, there’s always that tug to be somewhere else. Moms are always pushed beyond measure to establish the perfect juxtapose between mommy work, social life and me time. The guilt does a full circle. When you are home you want to be at work, when you are at work, you want to also socialize and when you do socialize, you want to come back to the kids.

The survey confirms that Indian moms (a huge 67%) find it hard to spend time with their kids and fulfil their other duties. While they miss their old lives, they don’t want to change their status either. India shares the top spot with Brazil and single headedly tops the chart when it comes to mom’s guilt about not providing for their family. – 54% of Indian moms would like to go to work rather than stay-at-home. And yet here we are, fulfilling so many roles while also trying to maintain our predominant roles as mothers.

So ladies, let’s just breathe in contentment when these pressures enclose on us and remember that life is what we choose it to be. Let’s choose to validate and respect the difficulty and significance of being moms, combined with the complexity of being  living, breathing, imperfect people.

Breathe easy and do not let all the pressure bog you down. And like Baby Dove believes there is no right or wrong way of being a mother, just your way. So, trust yourself for you know what’s best for your baby and enjoy the mommy ride!

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