Jamie Hartman (29), mother to Daphne (6), Emrys (4), and Jonah (18 months)
Milwaukee, WI
Jamie is a previous project participant. You can view her original image from 2015 here.
Jamie shares -
“My body image is largely positive after parenting, but I recognize that I am afforded a lot of thin privilege by having a body that mostly "bounced back" as society thinks birthing folks are supposed to. I try to be intentional with positive self-talk in front of my kids especially, and to teach them that bodies are all different and all beautiful.”
What was your postpartum experience?
“Physically, my postpartum experience was great. I birthed in the hospital - my first hospital birth - and felt really well cared for and respected. Jonah was born with a birth defect - clubfoot - and so he had full leg casts for the first nine weeks of his life, and then big orthotic boots with a metal bar between them for months after. It wasn't perfect, but I felt very supported and really lucky to have my husband home for a month after the birth, and then extended family helping out after that.
I was prepared for the postpartum anxiety I'd had with my first two children, as much as you can be, and set up with medication and everything from the jump. Still, it was almost a year before I really felt myself mentally, and I still struggle sometimes. Anxiety is part of my story.”
What is your truth?
You deserve to thrive.
Why did you choose to participate in this movement and share your story?
I am basically a poster child for having the ideal birth and postpartum experience, and still totally falling apart. I had three perfect births, three healthy babies, three wonderful nursing experiences- and three instances of postpartum anxiety and OCD. Poor outcomes can definitely cause PPD. Sometimes, though, mental illness is just part of your story. Things are getting a little better, but there's still stigma against mental illness and medication, I find especially in the natural birthing community, and I tell my story to try and break that stigma.