It Feels Like You're Going to Explode. You're Not Alone.
Maybe you pictured something different. Soft, quiet moments. An overwhelming sense of peace and love. Instead, your blood feels like it's always boiling. You're on edge, with a short fuse you never had before, and the smallest thing—spilled milk, a partner's question, the baby crying again—sends a shockwave of fury through you.
You have the urge to scream, to slam a door so hard the lock breaks, to throw your phone against the wall. And in the quiet moments after the storm passes, a tidal wave of shame washes over you.
"What is happening to me?" you think. "This isn't who I am."
This experience is profoundly isolating. Our culture tells us that new motherhood should be a time of joy and bliss, a period of selfless, patient bonding. When your reality is one of uncontrollable, white-hot anger, the gap between what you think you should feel and what you do feel can be devastating. It creates a painful, secret narrative: "I'm a bad mom. I'm failing at this. What kind of mother feels this way?"
This shame is the heaviest burden. It's the voice that tells you to stay silent, that no one would understand, that you might be judged or, even worse, seen as a danger to your child.
Let's be very clear: What you are feeling is real, it is more common than you can imagine, and it is not your fault. You are not a bad mother. You are a mother who is having a very hard time and needs support.
What Is Postpartum Rage, Really?
It's important to give this experience a name, not to pathologize it, but to understand it. Naming it takes away some of its power and helps you see that it's a recognized phenomenon, not a personal failing.
It's More Than Just "New Mom Stress"
Every new parent gets frustrated. Sleep deprivation, a crying baby, and the constant demands are enough to test anyone's patience. But postpartum rage is different. It's an intense, overwhelming, and often explosive anger that feels disproportionate to whatever triggered it. It's not just irritation; it's a feeling of being completely out of control.
This is not the same as the "baby blues," which are mild, temporary mood swings, sadness, and anxiety that affect up to 80% of new mothers but typically fade within two weeks of giving birth. Postpartum rage is more persistent and severe.
While it isn't an official clinical diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), healthcare providers absolutely recognize it as a serious and common symptom of postpartum distress. It is not a character flaw or a sign of weakness; it is a legitimate mood disruption that deserves attention and care.
How Rage Is Different From Postpartum Depression and Anxiety
When people hear "postpartum depression," they usually picture sadness and constant crying. While that is true for many, it's a tragically incomplete picture. For a significant number of women, the most prominent symptom of postpartum depression (PPD) is intense irritability and anger. Similarly, postpartum anxiety (PPA) isn't just constant worry; it can manifest as feeling perpetually agitated, restless, and "on edge."
Postpartum rage is often a primary, and frequently overlooked, symptom of these underlying perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. You can experience rage as the main feature of your PPD or PPA, even if you don't feel particularly sad or worried. The anger is the part of the iceberg that shows above the water.
It is also important to distinguish this from postpartum psychosis. Postpartum psychosis is an extremely rare (affecting about 0.1% of births) but very serious condition that requires immediate medical attention. It involves a break with reality and may include symptoms like delusions (believing things that aren't true) or hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that aren't there). The anger and distress of postpartum rage, while frightening, do not involve losing touch with reality.
Why Is This Happening to Me?
Understanding the roots of your rage can help shift the narrative from self-blame to self-compassion. This isn't happening because you're a bad person. It's happening because your body, brain, and environment are under an immense amount of strain.
Your Body Is Navigating a Massive Shift
The biological changes after childbirth are more dramatic than at any other time in a person's life. After you deliver your baby and the placenta, levels of reproductive hormones like estrogen and progesterone plummet. Because these hormones are crucial for regulating mood, this sudden "withdrawal" can trigger profound mood instability in susceptible individuals.
Your thyroid hormones can also drop sharply, leaving you feeling exhausted and depressed. At the same time, your body's stress-response system, the HPA axis, can become dysregulated, making it harder to cope with even minor stressors.
Think of it this way: your body just completed the biological equivalent of running a marathon while building a house. Now it's expected to function on minimal sleep while caring for a completely dependent human being. The hormonal crash alone would be enough to destabilize anyone's mood, but add in the physical recovery, sleep deprivation, and overwhelming responsibility, and it's no wonder your system is sounding alarms.
Your Brain Won't Shut Off
On top of this hormonal upheaval, you are likely experiencing severe and chronic sleep deprivation. Lack of sleep isn't just about feeling tired; it directly impairs the function of the frontal lobe, the part of your brain responsible for emotional regulation, impulse control, and rational thinking. When you're exhausted, your tolerance for frustration plummets.
This is compounded by the immense "mental load" of motherhood—the invisible, non-stop work of anticipating needs, tracking appointments, managing schedules, and worrying. Your brain is in constant overdrive, leading to burnout. If you have a personal or family history of depression, anxiety, or another mood disorder, your brain is already more vulnerable to these pressures.
Sleep deprivation essentially hijacks your prefrontal cortex—the CEO of your brain that usually keeps emotions in check. Without adequate rest, your amygdala (the brain's alarm system) becomes hyperactive while your ability to regulate that response becomes compromised. It's like having a smoke detector that goes off when you burn toast, but the sprinkler system is broken.
You're Doing Too Much, With Too Little Support
Postpartum rage is almost always a signal that a mother is overburdened and undersupported. Think of it as a check engine light on your dashboard; it's a desperate alarm from your system that your stress has exceeded your coping resources. The rage isn't random. It's a primal response to fundamental needs going unmet—the need for sleep, for help, for a break, for your own identity.
When you feel powerless, unsupported by a partner, or resentful about an imbalance in the physical and emotional labor, anger is a natural response. In the highly sensitized postpartum state, that justifiable anger can easily boil over into uncontrollable rage. It is a flare signaling an unmet need, your body's way of screaming for help when whispers and hints have gone unheard.
Other stressors, like a traumatic birth, a baby with health challenges, financial strain, or relationship conflict, can pour fuel on the fire. The modern expectation that mothers should be able to "do it all" while maintaining grace and gratitude creates an impossible standard that sets women up for rage when reality inevitably falls short.
What Postpartum Rage Can Look and Feel Like
Seeing your experience reflected in others can be a powerful antidote to shame. Here is what postpartum rage often looks and feels like.
The Urge to Scream, Yell, or Throw Something
This is the most visible symptom. It's the sudden, explosive outburst where you lose control of your temper. You might find yourself yelling, cursing, or slamming doors in a way that feels completely out of character. It can also be physical—punching a steering wheel, throwing something across the room, feeling an intense urge to break things.
These episodes are often accompanied by intense physical sensations: a racing heart, clenched jaw and fists, a tightness in your chest, or a feeling of being hot from the inside out. Some women describe it as feeling like they might literally explode, like there's too much pressure inside their body with nowhere for it to go.
The intensity can be shocking, especially if you've never experienced anger like this before. Many women describe feeling like they've been possessed by someone else—that the person screaming and slamming doors can't possibly be them.
Your Mind Keeps Dwelling on Things
Postpartum rage isn't just about outbursts. It can also be a constant, simmering state of irritation. A key cognitive symptom is rumination—the inability to let something go. You might find yourself dwelling on a small annoyance for hours, replaying a frustrating conversation in your head, or obsessing over why the baby isn't napping. It feels like your brain is stuck in a loop and you can't turn it off.
This mental churning is exhausting and feeds the rage. You might replay scenarios where you imagine saying exactly what you wanted to say to your partner, or fantasize about what you'd do if you didn't have to be responsible for anyone else. The thoughts can become intrusive and consuming, making it impossible to be present or find peace even in quiet moments.
The Physical Sensations That Come Before
Many women learn to recognize the physical warning signs that rage is building. Your jaw might clench. Your shoulders creep up toward your ears. Your hands ball into fists. You might feel heat rising in your chest or face, or notice your breathing becoming shallow and rapid.
Some describe it as feeling like a volcano about to erupt, or like electricity is coursing through their body. Others talk about feeling like their skin is too small, like they need to crawl out of themselves. These physical sensations can be just as distressing as the emotional experience, particularly when they seem to come out of nowhere.
Scary, Unwanted Thoughts
This is one of the most terrifying and secretive symptoms, and it needs to be brought into the light. It is incredibly common for new mothers, especially those with anxiety or OCD, to experience intrusive thoughts. These are unwanted, repetitive, and often horrific mental images or ideas about harm coming to the baby. You might be giving the baby a bath and have a sudden, horrifying thought of them slipping under the water.
Here is the most important thing you need to know: the fact that these thoughts horrify and disgust you is the very sign that you are not a danger to your baby. These thoughts are ego-dystonic, meaning they are the opposite of what you want or believe. They are a symptom of extreme anxiety, not a reflection of your character or intentions. You are not your thoughts.
These intrusive thoughts often involve scenarios where you imagine dropping, shaking, or otherwise harming your baby. They might flash through your mind while you're going down stairs, driving, or even just holding your child. The key difference between intrusive thoughts and actual dangerous ideation is that intrusive thoughts are unwanted and cause distress, while dangerous thoughts feel appealing or justified.
The Crushing Guilt That Follows
After an episode of rage, or after a scary thought flashes through your mind, the emotional hangover can be brutal. It's a toxic cocktail of shame, confusion, and profound guilt. You may feel like a monster, convinced that your anger is damaging your baby or your relationship with your partner.
This guilt often fuels the silence, making you even more afraid to reach out for help, which in turn allows the pressure to build again. You might find yourself apologizing constantly, overcompensating with excessive gentleness, or becoming hypervigilant about your emotions in a way that's exhausting.
The shame spiral can be relentless: "Good mothers don't feel this way. I'm traumatizing my child. My baby deserves better. I'm broken." These thoughts feel true in the moment, but they're actually symptoms of the underlying mood disturbance, not accurate reflections of reality.
The Hidden Triggers Nobody Talks About
Understanding what sets off your rage can help you develop strategies to prevent or manage it. While triggers vary from person to person, there are common patterns that many women recognize.
Being "Touched Out"
This phrase has gained recognition in recent years, but the experience is still underestimated. After hours of breastfeeding, skin-to-skin contact, and being physically needed by your baby, some mothers reach a point where any additional touch feels intolerable. When your partner reaches for you or wants affection, it can trigger immediate rage.
This isn't about not loving your partner or baby—it's about sensory overload. Your nervous system has reached its capacity for physical stimulation, and any additional touch registers as an assault rather than comfort. This can be particularly confusing for partners who are trying to offer support or connection.
The Sound of Crying When You've Done Everything
There's a specific type of rage that builds when you've fed, changed, burped, and soothed your baby, but they continue to cry. It's not just frustration—it's a primal panic that can quickly escalate to fury. Your nervous system interprets the continued crying as failure, which triggers fight-or-flight responses.
This is compounded by sleep deprivation and the biological imperative to make the crying stop. When nothing works, some mothers describe feeling like they're going insane, like the crying is drilling into their brain. The rage that follows isn't about not loving your baby—it's about feeling helpless and overwhelmed by your inability to fix the situation.
Partner Behaviors That Feel Like Abandonment
When you're drowning in the demands of new motherhood, certain partner behaviors can trigger disproportionate rage. A partner who sleeps through the baby's cries, asks "what can I do to help?" instead of just helping, or seems to go about their normal routine while you're barely surviving can trigger intense fury.
The rage often isn't really about the specific behavior—it's about feeling abandoned and unsupported during one of the most vulnerable times of your life. When your partner seems oblivious to your struggle or treats childcare like something they're "helping" with rather than sharing equally, the underlying message feels like: "Your needs don't matter. You're on your own."
Comments About Your Appearance or Capabilities
Well-meaning comments from family members, friends, or even healthcare providers can trigger rage when you're already feeling vulnerable. Observations about how tired you look, suggestions about what you "should" be doing differently, or comments about your baby's behavior can feel like criticism of your mothering abilities.
Even positive comments can feel triggering when you're struggling. Being told you're "glowing" or "look great" when you feel like hell can create internal rage about the performance of motherhood—the expectation that you should appear grateful and radiant when you're actually suffering.
How to Start Feeling More Like Yourself Again
Recovery isn't about becoming a person who never feels angry. The frustrations of parenting are real. Recovery is about building resilience and support so that frustration no longer escalates into uncontrollable rage. It's about turning the volume down on the alarm so you can hear the signal without the explosion.
The First Step: Telling Someone You Trust
This is often the hardest and most courageous step. The fear of being judged is enormous. Start small. Pick one person you trust—your partner, a close friend, your doctor—and find a quiet moment. You don't need a perfect speech. You can simply say, "I'm having a really hard time. I've been feeling so angry lately, and it's scaring me. I think I need help."
Asking for help is not a sign of weakness; it is the ultimate act of strength and love for yourself and your family. The relief many women feel after finally speaking their truth out loud can be profound. Shame thrives in secrecy, but it withers when exposed to compassionate understanding.
If you're not ready to tell someone in person, consider starting with a text or email. Sometimes writing it down first makes it easier to say out loud later. You might write: "I've been struggling with intense anger since the baby was born. I know this isn't normal for me, and I think I need professional help. Can we talk about this?"
Finding the Right Professional Support
Not all mental health support is created equal when it comes to perinatal concerns. While any licensed therapist can provide valuable support, working with a professional who has specialized training in perinatal mental health can make a significant difference in both the speed and effectiveness of your recovery.
A therapist with advanced certification in perinatal mental health (PMH-C) has completed specialized training in the unique challenges of pregnancy, postpartum, and early parenthood. They understand the complex interplay of hormones, sleep deprivation, and life transition that contributes to conditions like postpartum rage. More importantly, they won't be surprised or alarmed by your experiences—they've seen them before and know how to help.
This specialized knowledge matters because perinatal mental health conditions often present differently than general depression or anxiety. A PMH-C trained therapist will understand that your rage isn't a character flaw or a sign that you don't love your baby—it's a symptom of an underlying condition that responds well to targeted treatment.
Psychotherapy: Also known as talk therapy, this provides a safe, non-judgmental space to process your feelings and learn new coping skills. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can help you identify and challenge the negative thought patterns that fuel rage, while Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) focuses on navigating relationship challenges and the massive role transition of motherhood. Skills from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) can be incredibly helpful for managing intense emotions and tolerating distress without an outburst.
Medication: Antidepressants, particularly SSRIs, are often prescribed and can be life-saving. They work by helping to correct the neurochemical imbalances contributing to your symptoms, effectively giving you more of a buffer before you feel overwhelmed. Most are safe to take while breastfeeding, but this is a decision to make with your doctor, who can help you weigh the risks and benefits.
The National Institute of Mental Health offers reliable information on perinatal depression and its treatments. The key is finding a provider who understands that medication can be a tool that helps you get well enough to engage with therapy and other supports, not a sign that you're failing to cope naturally.
In the Moment: How to Cope When Rage Is Building
Therapy and medication take time to work. You also need tools for the here and now. The first step is to start noticing your triggers—is it when you're exhausted? Feeling touched-out? Overstimulated by noise? When you feel the anger starting to rise, have a plan:
Step Away: If your baby is in a safe place, like their crib, walk away. Go into another room, step outside, or even just go to the bathroom and lock the door for two minutes. Creating physical space can break the emotional escalation. Your baby is safer with you taking a brief break than with you trying to push through when you're at your breaking point.
Breathe: It sounds cliché, but it works. Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose for four counts, hold for four, and exhale slowly through your mouth for six counts. This activates your parasympathetic nervous system, which tells your body to calm down. The longer exhale is key—it signals to your brain that you're safe.
Use Your Senses: Ground yourself in the present moment. Splash cold water on your face. Press your bare feet into the floor and notice the sensation. Hold an ice cube in your hand. Drink a cold glass of water and focus only on the feeling of it going down your throat. These techniques interrupt the rage response by redirecting your attention to immediate physical sensations.
Safe Release: Anger is energy. Give it a safe place to go. Punch a pillow, scream into it, stomp your feet, or do some vigorous exercise to release the physical tension in a way that harms no one. Some women find it helpful to keep a "rage box"—a container filled with items they can safely throw or squeeze when they need to release energy.
The 5-4-3-2-1 Technique: When you feel rage building, try to identify: 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste. This grounding technique helps pull you out of the emotional storm and back into the present moment.
Building a Foundation of Support for Yourself
Long-term, the goal is to reduce the stressors that are triggering the rage in the first place. This is not about adding more to your to-do list; it's about strategically taking things off.
Prioritize Rest: This is non-negotiable. Accept any and all offers of help that allow you to sleep. Let your partner take a night shift. Let the laundry pile up. Your sleep is more important than a clean house. If night wakings are unavoidable, try to nap when the baby naps, even if it's just for 20 minutes.
Sleep debt is real and cumulative. You can't just "catch up" on weekends. Consider asking for help specifically with sleep—maybe someone can watch the baby for a few hours on weekend mornings so you can sleep in, or a friend can come over so you can nap in the afternoon.
Communicate Your Needs: Your partner and family are not mind readers. Be explicit. Say, "I need you to take the baby for an hour so I can take a shower alone." Or, "I am at my limit. I need you to handle dinner tonight." Sharing the mental and physical load is essential.
Many partners want to help but don't know what you need or assume you'll ask if you need something. But when you're in survival mode, you might not even know what you need, let alone have the energy to ask for it. Consider having a conversation during a calm moment about how you can both recognize when you're reaching your limit and what specific supports you need.
Connect with Peers: You are not the only one feeling this way. Connecting with other mothers who get it can be a lifeline. Postpartum Support International offers free, virtual peer support groups on dozens of topics, including a specific group for Postpartum Rage. You don't need a diagnosis to join. Hearing your own feelings echoed by someone else is one of the most powerful ways to dissolve shame.
These support groups are different from general new mom groups because they focus specifically on mental health challenges. You don't have to pretend to be grateful or put together—you can be honest about struggling without fear of judgment.
When Partners Don't Understand
One of the most challenging aspects of postpartum rage is when your partner doesn't understand what you're experiencing. They might dismiss your feelings as normal new parent stress, suggest that you just need more sleep, or seem frustrated by your "overreactions." This lack of understanding can fuel rage and create additional relationship strain.
Why Partners Struggle to Understand
Your partner didn't experience the hormonal fluctuations, physical recovery, or biological changes that can contribute to postpartum rage. If they've never experienced a mood disorder themselves, they might not understand how brain chemistry can affect emotions and behavior. They might assume that if you loved your baby and wanted to be a mother, you should naturally feel happy and fulfilled.
Some partners feel helpless or defensive when faced with your rage, especially if they become the target of it. They might try to "fix" the situation by offering solutions or minimizing your feelings, which usually makes things worse.
How to Help Them Understand
Education can be powerful. Share articles or resources about postpartum rage with your partner. Explain that this is a recognized medical condition, not a character flaw or sign that you regret having a baby. Help them understand that their support is crucial for your recovery.
You might say something like: "I know my anger seems disproportionate, but this is a symptom of what I'm going through, not a reflection of how I feel about you or our family. I need you to understand that I can't just snap out of this, and I need your patience and support while I get help."
Consider involving your partner in a therapy session so they can learn from a professional about postpartum mood disorders and how to support you effectively.
The Long Road Back to Yourself
Recovery from postpartum rage doesn't happen overnight. There will be good days and bad days, moments when you feel like your old self and moments when the rage feels as intense as ever. This is normal and doesn't mean you're not making progress.
What Recovery Actually Looks Like
Recovery isn't about never feeling angry again—it's about returning to your baseline ability to manage difficult emotions. You'll know you're getting better when:
- The intensity of your anger feels more proportionate to whatever triggered it
- You can recognize early warning signs and use coping strategies before you explode
- You have more patience for everyday frustrations
- You feel more like yourself, even when you're tired or stressed
- You can enjoy moments with your baby without the constant undercurrent of rage
Recovery is rarely linear. You might have a great week followed by a difficult day, and that's okay. Each time you use a coping strategy or reach out for support instead of exploding, you're building new neural pathways and strengthening your ability to regulate emotions.
Rebuilding Your Relationship with Your Baby
Many mothers worry that their rage has damaged their bond with their baby or that their child will be affected by their anger. While chronic maternal stress can impact children, the vast majority of babies are remarkably resilient, especially when their mothers get appropriate support and treatment.
Babies don't remember specific incidents of anger, but they do benefit from having a mother who is getting help and feeling more emotionally regulated. Taking care of your mental health is one of the best things you can do for your child.
If you're concerned about repair work with your baby, focus on the many positive interactions you have throughout the day. Babies are wired to bond with their primary caregivers, and that bond is built through countless small moments—feeding, diaper changes, quiet snuggles, and eye contact—not just the perfect Pinterest moments.
Rebuilding Your Relationship with Your Partner
Postpartum rage can strain relationships, especially if your partner has been the frequent target of your anger. Rebuilding trust and intimacy takes time and effort from both people.
Start with honest conversations about what you've both experienced. Acknowledge the impact your rage has had on your partner while also explaining what you've been going through. This isn't about blame—it's about understanding how postpartum mental health challenges affect the entire family system.
Consider couples therapy with someone who understands perinatal mental health. Many relationship issues that arise during this period are actually symptoms of untreated mood disorders rather than fundamental relationship problems.
The Myth of Perfect Motherhood
Part of healing from postpartum rage involves examining and dismantling the unrealistic expectations we place on mothers. The myth of perfect motherhood—that mothers should be naturally nurturing, endlessly patient, and blissfully happy—creates an impossible standard that sets women up for shame when they inevitably fall short.
Where These Expectations Come From
Social media, parenting books, and cultural messages all perpetuate the idea that motherhood is the ultimate fulfillment for women and that struggling with it means something is wrong with you personally. We see carefully curated images of peaceful mothers gazing lovingly at their babies, but we don't see the moments of frustration, exhaustion, and rage that are part of the real experience.
These unrealistic expectations are particularly harmful because they prevent women from seeking help when they need it. If you believe that good mothers don't feel angry, you're less likely to reach out for support when you do.
The Reality of Motherhood
The reality is that motherhood is one of the most challenging transitions a person can experience. It involves massive physical, emotional, psychological, and social changes all happening simultaneously. It's normal to grieve your old life while learning to love your new one. It's normal to feel overwhelmed, resentful, and angry sometimes.
This doesn't mean you love your baby any less or that you're failing as a mother. It means you're human, experiencing a profoundly challenging life transition without adequate support—which is, unfortunately, the norm rather than the exception in our culture.
Creating Realistic Expectations
Recovery involves developing more realistic expectations for yourself and your experience of motherhood. This might mean:
- Accepting that you won't love every moment of parenting, and that's okay
- Understanding that feeling frustrated with your baby doesn't mean you don't love them
- Recognizing that needing help and support is normal, not a sign of weakness
- Allowing yourself to have bad days without catastrophizing about what they mean
- Giving yourself credit for all the things you're doing right, even when you're struggling
Moving Forward with Compassion
If you recognize yourself in this description of postpartum rage, the most important thing you can do is extend compassion to yourself. You didn't choose this experience, and it's not a reflection of your character or your love for your child.
Postpartum rage is a signal that you need and deserve support. It's your body and mind's way of telling you that you're carrying more than you can handle alone. Listening to that signal and seeking appropriate help isn't giving up—it's taking responsibility for your wellbeing and your family's.
You're Not Broken
The healthcare system often focuses on what's wrong rather than understanding the context in which symptoms develop. Postpartum rage isn't a sign that you're broken—it's a normal response to abnormal circumstances.
You're not defective for struggling with the enormous challenges of new motherhood without adequate support. You're not weak for having a mental health condition. You're not selfish for needing help. You're human, dealing with one of life's most significant transitions during a time when your brain and body are vulnerable.
You Deserve Support
Every mother deserves access to knowledgeable, compassionate care during the postpartum period. You deserve providers who understand that rage can be a symptom of postpartum depression or anxiety, not a character flaw. You deserve support from your partner, family, and community as you navigate this challenging time.
If you haven't found that support yet, keep looking. There are providers who specialize in perinatal mental health and understand exactly what you're going through. There are other mothers who have walked this path and come out the other side. You don't have to figure this out alone.
The Path Forward
Recovery from postpartum rage is possible, and it doesn't require you to become a different person. It involves getting the right support, addressing underlying mood disorders, and developing strategies for managing stress and difficult emotions.
Most women who experience postpartum rage and get appropriate treatment report feeling significantly better within a few months. They reconnect with their sense of self, enjoy their babies more, and feel capable of handling the normal challenges of parenting without explosive anger.
This doesn't mean motherhood becomes easy—it's still one of the hardest jobs you'll ever do. But it does mean you can feel more like yourself while doing it. You can experience the full range of human emotions, including frustration and anger, without feeling out of control or ashamed.
The journey back to yourself might be longer than you'd like, but every step forward matters. Every time you reach out for support, use a coping strategy, or practice self-compassion, you're doing the work of healing.
You're not alone in this. You're not a bad mother. You're not broken.
You're just carrying too much. And we can help.