Nothing compares to the experience of being pregnant and having a baby- full stop. But going through this whilst living abroad? That’s a whole other layer of complexity, of strength and vulnerability.
If you have been through a pregnancy or birth abroad, what do you wish you knew then/did differently?
For me, something that resonates is the importance of self-compassion. I wish I had implemented more self-compassion and this is coming from someone who wrote their doctoral thesis on self-compassion!
What I mean is- I wish I reflected more often on the unique challenges inherent in being pregnant and giving birth in another country. My points of reference were sometimes thrown off-kilter, and as calm and casual as I tried to be, I still found myself tallying up these differences. For example, they don’t routinely test for gestational diabetes and baby duvets are a thing here.
Being a new mother and having to make all sorts of decisions when I was fretting about these differences and trying to ensure the absolute best possible outcomes for my baby sometimes became overwhelming.
Looking back, I wish I could have had more faith in myself and extended a gentle, self-compassionate ‘hug’. Kindness is so vastly underrated, but self-kindness is at another level of abstraction entirely.
For new mothers (and old), I see you and I hope you can offer yourself the levels of self-compassion you deserve today.