Postpartum Isn’t About Bouncing Back

The postpartum period is often framed as something to recover from. There’s an unspoken expectation that after a certain amount of time, you should feel like yourself again: productive, capable, emotionally regulated, and grateful.

But for many new mothers, that expectation feels impossible.

Postpartum is not just a physical recovery. It’s an identity shift. The version of you that existed before pregnancy may no longer fit the realities of your life now including your time, your energy, your nervous system, your priorities. This can bring up grief, confusion, and anxiety, even when you deeply love your baby.

For many anxious women, this season intensifies old coping strategies. Perfectionism often steps in as a way to manage the uncertainty: If I do this right, maybe I’ll feel okay. But postpartum life doesn’t respond to perfection. Needs change constantly. Sleep is unpredictable. Control is limited. The strategy that once helped can suddenly leave you feeling depleted, irritable, or like you’re failing at something everyone else seems to manage.

This doesn’t mean you’re doing motherhood wrong. It means the rules have changed.

Rather than pushing yourself to return to who you were, postpartum often asks something different: to clarify what matters now, to loosen old expectations, and to allow your identity to shift in ways that feel more sustainable and humane.

Many mothers find this process easier in community — especially when the space doesn’t rush them, fix them, or compare them to others. Having language for what’s happening, and permission to move at your own pace, can make this season feel less overwhelming and less isolating.

Seasons is a six-week group created for postpartum moms navigating these changes. It’s designed to honor postpartum as a distinct season that deserves support, reflection, and gentleness, rather than pressure to perform or recover quickly.

If you’re feeling unsure of who you are now, exhausted by trying to “do it right,” or simply craving steadiness, you’re not broken. You’re in a season of becoming.