Series: When maternal rage becomes power (the moment I became a maternal health advocate)
This resource gave my anger somewhere to go | 3 min read
Something didn’t feel right.
Before I ever learned about maternal rage, I knew something didn’t feel right.
I was 8 weeks postpartum with my first baby when I joined a support group for new moms. During our first meeting, we shared our birth stories.
The stories I remembered most ended in shock and trauma.
Moms talked about unplanned c-sections, being dismissed despite their painful contractions, the stress of burning through PTO during a longer than expected NICU stay, and feeling like they failed when they couldn’t breastfeed.
There was so much sadness, guilt, and shame in the room.
For months, I couldn’t stop thinking about those stories. It felt unfair. These moms were grieving the version of motherhood they didn’t get. What fired me up most was knowing that so much of that suffering could have been prevented or better supported.
Then, I read Reshma Saujani's book Pay Up.
It was like a fog lifted. For the first time, I realized these weren’t isolated stories. And these moms weren’t failing.
The system was.
That book gave me so much clarity and changed everything. It turned my confusion into curiosity. Most importantly, it gave my anger somewhere to go.
That’s what ultimately set me on my path to maternal health advocacy.
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