Raw Motherhood | A Wilmington, DE Motherhood Photographer Shares Honest, Intimate Reflections on the Postpartum Experience

A question I ask on my client intakes for postpartum sessions is "My aim is to document Raw, Intimate, and Honest expressions of the Postpartum Experience.  Please define what 'Raw Motherhood' means to you." Every response I’ve received has been deeply unique but also universal. Whether it's their first child or their fourth, mothers return to certain shared truths: that motherhood is both sacred and disorienting, grounding and chaotic, tender and terrifying.

For me, the rawness of new motherhood feels like an opening-- sometimes this opening feels like a wound, more often an opportunity for healing and growth. With each child I welcome into my arms-- my body, my heart, and my identity are no longer what they were, and will never be again. There’s grief in the loss of what was, and beauty in the embodied expansion and in the becoming more and more of who I truly am. A stripping away, a revealing that lets more of my inner light shine through. Each child has deepend the cracks.

In this post, I’m honored to share the voices of real mothers-- clients and friends. Their words are intimate portraits of what raw motherhood feels like:

"To me, raw motherhood means leaning into the scary. Who hasn’t been told time and again to “just wait” for all of the bad parts of motherhood? Who hasn’t been on the brink of everything, only to be brought back to Earth by those little hands grounding you? Motherhood is gritty, animalistic, and natural; even when it doesn’t always feel that way. It can be terrifying and beautiful, sometimes all at once. Motherhood is being able to take the scary and run with it until it turns into beauty."

"I think raw motherhood is all about finding peace and happiness in the chaos and mess that comes with a new baby. The chaos of having no schedule and just waking up each day blissfully unaware of what the day will bring, the messiness of our body leaking milk and our hair thats been pulled into a bun for days. The chaos of a toddler learning to love a new sibling while learning to share her mothers attention, and the mess that all the toys and snacks and blanket forts leave behind. The cup of tea thats been sitting for so long its cold. Trying to learn all the quirks of a new child while trying to make room for the big feelings of your first. Re-learning how to breastfeed with a child that is so, so different from the first. Breastfeeding one while cuddling both (one of our favorites around here lately). Another cup of cold, forgotten tea lost to the chaos of postpartum, eventually added to the mess of dishes in the sink."

"To me 'raw motherhood' means no filter. So much of what is portrayed on social media is the opposite of raw. Raw motherhood is crying while putting my daughter to sleep because she is going through a sleep regression and I can't see straight I'm so tired, while simultaneously knowing there is no where else in the world I would rather be. Raw motherhood is being radically present when the world wants to pull your attention away from what really matters. Raw motherhood means not being wrapped up in the culture of consumerism and capitalism. Not buying into the idea that you need to buy all of these things for your baby in order to best support them. What my baby needs is unconditional, raw love. Not to be confused with perfectionism. I will never get it all right, but I will always love her. And that is 'right' enough for me."

"To me, "raw motherhood" means giving every part of myself to my baby."

"To me, raw motherhood is unfiltered life as a mom and the rich relationships that can be fostered between moms. It is not picture perfect instagram photos or "having it all together." As a new mom, everything is a learning curve, and I have been so blessed by my friends and family who are already moms. They have reassured me that all the messiness I'm feeling is normal, and that I don't need to do all the things I did before in this period of time. My house may be messier, and I may not be "productive" like I once was, but healing and caring for baby is success right now. I have not shied away from the floods of tears nor tried to hide them from my loved ones, and I have felt more bonded than ever to the women in my life who have supported me physically and emotionally."

"Raw motherhood is realizing that even if you're feeling in over your head, you still have to move forward. And not only do you have to keep going, you have to do it while a tiny human is depending on you to survive. Raw motherhood gives you a lot of time to think at 2am. It's not always good thoughts. Raw motherhood is feeling like you have nothing left to give, mentally, physically, emotionally, but still finding the strength from somewhere you didn't even know existed to care for and hold and feed and love that beautiful little miracle".

"Raw motherhood is doing everything in your power to raise these little ones the best way you can-- making the hard choices-- making them the priority."