In this episode of the podcast, Motherkind Café coordinators Katherine Crawford, Emily Malden, and Jules Pidgeon are joined by local mum Heather, who gave birth to her second baby in May 2021, to discuss loneliness in motherhood and how the pandemic has affected Heather’s experience of second-time motherhood.
Pre-warning: there is brief discussion of suicidal thoughts and of a traumatic birth experience. Please proceed with care if you might find that hard to listen to.
We discuss the lonely moments of raising a baby that don’t often get talked about, the long nights with a baby that wakes often, how difficult it is to find honesty about the mental toll of motherhood at baby groups, especially when you are suffering with depression or anxiety. We also talk about feeling lonely amongst the relentlessness of looking after two small children at home all day (and how well the new Netflix film The Lost Daughter depicts this), and how weekends can be a lonely place for single parents.