BookmarkBookmarkTickBookmarkAddCheckBoxFilledCheckBoxCircleBumpCheckedFilledMedical

Viral Photo Stresses Why It’s Important to Remember Mom After Baby Is Born

“In the hustle of the room, I peered over at my friend bent over in pain...I saw the pain in your eyes and in your face and in your body.”
save article
profile picture of Stephanie Grassullo
By Stephanie Grassullo, Contributing Writer
Updated May 28, 2019

There’s an endless amount of information and support walking expectant moms through each trimester of pregnancy, but when it comes time for the fourth trimester, forget it—you’re on your own. Everyone around you—including yourself—shifts their concerns to baby, and forgets that adjusting to life as a mom requires help too. Photographer Alex Michele captured a raw photo of a friend moments after giving birth. While everyone’s focus was on the adorable newborn, Alex Michele was drawn to her friend for a very different reason.

“In the hustle of the room, I peered over at my friend bent over in pain,” she writes. “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.”

In the breathtaking photo, the new mom is bent over after enduring the amazing feat that is childbirth. “I saw you, Mama. I saw the pain in your eyes and in your face and in your body,” Alex Michele says.

The photo captures why the fourth trimester is the most underrated trimester of them all. Once baby is born, becoming a parent isn’t the only major life change a woman experiences. The postpartum period is filled with all kinds of unexpected surprises, and it’s easy to feel alone and like a stranger in your own skin. It’s up to family and friends to check on baby and mom, and offer them the support and resources they need.

“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,” the photographer asks. “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.”

If you really want to help a new mom, offer to stop by for the afternoon to watch baby so she can get some sleep. Or better yet, come bearing meals for the week. And while you’re there, maybe clean the dishes that are overflowing in the sink. These little gestures go a long way.

“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.”

save article
Article removed.
Name added. View Your List
ADVERTISEMENT

Next on Your Reading List

9 Hardest Things About Being a New Mom
9 Hardest Things About Being a New Mom
By Lissa Harnish Poirot
serena williams holding newborn baby with husband and daughter
Serena Williams Celebrates Her Postpartum Body in Powerful Post
By Wyndi Kappes
woman showing her hair thinning around her temples
What to Do for Postpartum Hair Loss
Medically Reviewed by Kendra Segura, MD
ADVERTISEMENT
close up of mother holding baby
9 Ways Motherhood Biologically Changes You
Medically Reviewed by Kendra Segura, MD
woman putting on postpartum belly wrap in bathroom at home
8 Best Postpartum Belly Wraps for Recovery, According to New Moms
Medically Reviewed by Kendra Segura, MD
jessie j postpartum body image
Jessie J Doesn’t Want Her Pre-Baby Body Back, She Wants to Go Forward
By Wyndi Kappes
chrissy teigen and her baby
Chrissy Teigen Captures Candid Postpartum Bath Image With Baby Esti
By Wyndi Kappes
ADVERTISEMENT
baby next to mom's belly with stretch marks
Can You Get Rid of Stretch Marks After Pregnancy?
By Rose Walano
mother holding baby showing post-baby body
How to Love Your Postpartum Body
By Kaitlin Stanford
Ashley Graham attends The 2019 Met Gala Celebrating Camp
Ashley Graham Tells Moms It’s Okay if You Don’t Ever ‘Bounce Back’
By Wyndi Kappes
ADVERTISEMENT
Hilary Duff on the Kelly Clarkson Show in February 2022
Hilary Duff Shares Her Journey to Loving Her Body After Three Kids
By Nehal Aggarwal
close up of new mother holding baby at home showing postpartum belly
What Your Postpartum Belly May Look and Feel Like After Birth
By Ashley Zielger
Singer Halsey gives birth to newborn baby.
Halsey Gets Real About Accepting and Loving Their Postpartum Body
By Lauren Barth
ADVERTISEMENT
Actress Aja Naomi King.
Actress Aja Naomi King Celebrates Her Post Baby Body With Unedited Photos
By Nehal Aggarwal
pregnant woman lying on back in bed
Diastasis Recti: How to Fix Ab Separation After Pregnancy
By Yelena Moroz Alpert
hands holding heart shape
How I Lost the Baby Weight and Learned to Love My Postbaby Body
By Paula Miranda
woman stretching and getting ready to do postpartum exercises
10 Best Postpartum Workout Moves for New Moms
By Lindsay Dolak
ADVERTISEMENT
personality and influencer Ashley Graham
Ashley Graham Celebrates Her Postpartum Body With Nude Photoshoot
By Nehal Aggarwal
Ashley Graham and her husband Justin Ervin outside their house
Ashley Graham Proudly Shows Off Stretch Marks in New Swimsuit Campaign
By Nehal Aggarwal
woman stretching and getting ready to do postpartum exercises
10 Best Postpartum Workout Moves for New Moms
By Lindsay Dolak
ADVERTISEMENT
Article removed.