Let’s be real—everyone has experienced that moment when unsolicited advice comes flying your way, especially if you’re a mom or soon-to-be mom. Pregnant women are like magnets for opinions from family, friends, and total strangers alike. One mom, after witnessing a particularly cringe-worthy exchange, decided to take a stand.
“I just saw a total stranger shame another stranger who is, by the way, like 10 months pregnant, in a Starbucks!” exclaimed Lisa Monroe, a blogger at The Trendy Mom Blog. While waiting for her coffee, she watched two expectant mothers strike up a conversation about their pregnancies—a common and often comforting exchange.
That’s when things took a turn. One mother asked the other, “Did you breastfeed?” The reply came, “I only managed to nurse my first baby for a couple of weeks; it just didn’t work out.” The other mother gasped and said, “You didn’t breastfeed? Oh, you absolutely need to do it with this baby. It’s crucial for their health!”
Oh, come on now.
When I was six months pregnant with my first child, my boss, a man, didn’t just ask if I was going to breastfeed—he lectured me for a full ten minutes on the importance of it. At work. Without me asking for his opinion on my body or my baby.
Lisa was furious watching this interaction unfold, and she felt compelled to share her thoughts with her 520,000+ followers. “You are not entitled to dictate how anyone else should live their life. How dare you?”
Moms are often their own worst critics, battling ‘mom guilt’ over everything from feeding choices to parenting styles. “We’re already beating ourselves up about a million things,” Lisa stated. “When you shame someone, it just drags them down further. It doesn’t empower them.”
“You don’t know her story, you don’t know how hard it is. We should be lifting each other up, especially moms who are doing their best.” Amen to that! Motherhood is tough enough without the added pressure of unsolicited judgments. All we really need is support, a nod of understanding, and a simple “You’ve got this!”
Lisa’s parting words serve as a reminder: “As fellow moms and women, our job is to love and encourage each other where we are.”
For more insights and support on pregnancy, be sure to check out this excellent resource for pregnancy and home insemination from the CDC. And if you’re looking for tools to help with your journey, visit this site for an authoritative guide on home insemination kits.
Summary
A viral video by Lisa Monroe highlights the importance of refraining from giving unsolicited parenting advice, particularly regarding breastfeeding. She emphasizes the need for support and understanding among mothers instead of judgment, urging everyone to uplift one another in their parenting journeys.