While motherhood is painted as the crowning glory and privilege in being a woman, it comes with its own inherent problems which can make a new mother feel upset, like a failure and insecure about her abilities and choices. Knowing the various problems in motherhood can help prepare you when getting ready to have a baby. You can recognize the problems when they occur and find a solution or get help immediately.
Stress
Motherhood comes with a lot of stress from different sources. At times, it will be the constant worry that you aren't doing the best job possible. You'll worry about your kids in the day, at night and everywhere in between. You may fear something will happen to your children, that you don't spend enough time with them, or that you're not teaching them enough. You'll find that you're constantly pulled between your child's activities, your partner and your home, warns WholeFamily.com.
Identity
When you assume the role of a mother, much of your old identity can go by the wayside. If you used to be a social butterfly who loved to go out on the town, your nights may be taken up by late night feedings and cartoons. If you previously loved your work, you may find it to be stressful or quit to stay home. Motherhood can skew your view of identity and you can feel lost and confused about who you really are.
Loneliness
Being a mother can often be a lonely job points out Kristin Darguzas of ParentDish.com. Being with your children all day with little adult interaction can make you feel isolated. What's more, if you have children and your friends don't, you may feel ostracized when they participate in activities that you cannot attend. While you may have a thoughtful and helpful partner, he may not be available all of the time, which means you need to find ways to stay connected to other adults while fulfilling your responsibilities as a mother.
Career
The constant pull between your children and career may be a recurring theme of motherhood for you. Whether you decide to go back to work or you've decided to stay at home with your children, you may harbor guilty feelings either way. A working mother may fret that she is missing her children's lives, while a stay-at-home-mom may worry she's not contributing enough. A 2007 Pew Research Center report found that working moms were harder on themselves and gave themselves worse scores for their abilities.
Inadequacy
Even a model-mother will have feelings of self-doubt, inferiority and inadequacy at some point in time. Seeing seemingly perfect moms depicted on television, watching other mothers deal with their children or mothers who have more resources at their disposal can make you feel like an inadequate mother. Comparing yourself to other moms is a big problem in motherhood, one not easily remedied.
