Juggling work and motherhood has been an age-old challenge. Women have been trying to find that perfect balance since the beginning of time. It is not an easy task to do both with a newborn and it is ridden with great feelings of guilt. Knowing you are not alone is the key to overcoming those feelings.
The majority of mothers used to stay at home and strictly take care of the babies and the household. Today, the majority of families need both parents to have an income in order to stay financially afloat.
Mothers are forced to leave a newborn either at home with a nanny or family member, or at a daycare. An average maternity leave is about six weeks with most companies that even offer it. It is advantageous at this point in life to either have a job that you can do from home or have a husband that makes enough money for you to stay home for an extended period of time.
Either way, a newborn is a full-time job and to be successful at both, you will need help. When you are working, you will feel guilty that you are not with your baby and when you are with your baby, you will feel neglectful of your work. It is almost inevitable. Women are blogging, emailing, and talking about it in mommy groups across the world.
One of the most important things you can do to lessen the feelings of guilt is to talk to other moms in the same situation. Talking about it and hearing about it from someone else going through the same thing will help you to at least understand that you are not alone in the struggle. It makes a big difference to hear someone else talk about the same feeling you are having.