263 The Professional Counselor | Volume 14, Issue 3 Several participants described similar patterns of desiring to be honest with health care providers but instead choosing to refrain from sharing their social and emotional experiences. Most of the participants described these types of inconsistencies in self-advocating for social and emotional support postpartum, given the acceptability of mental health within their specific rural communities. In response to discussion of providers’ preferred responses when seeking emotional support, one participant declared she would prefer a provider said, “‘Let’s go to counseling. Let’s have another follow-up appointment.’ Instead of, ‘Maybe we should call DCS’ and assuming she’s harming these kids or herself. It’s not that type of situation.” The discrepancy between self-identified needs and the potential repercussions of sharing their need for support, particularly emotional and mental health support, was a common theme across participants. Recovering Power Participants shared their processes of recovering their sense of power within the postpartum period. One participant explained their process of carving out personal time while navigating the challenges of the day: Nursing her this whole time, I think has really helped with processing because I have to stop and sit down and breathe. So, I think it’s really helped having that 30–40 minutes of just sitting down because I don’t sit down when I’m home. I’m up cleaning and running, but yeah, nursing has really helped me process this birth a lot. Other participants shared experiences of recovering their sense of power through personal growth and adapting to life’s challenges as new mothers. One participant stated: I think you find yourself in motherhood. Not to say that women aren’t their true selves before they’re a mother. Who you are as a mother is who you are, you don’t have to be different or go back to who you were. It’s a growing experience and it’s hard, definitely. Another participant shared how the experiences of childbirth and postpartum recovery helped shape her capacity for self-advocacy, stating, “I think through all of it, I learned to stand up for myself more than I ever have.” Lastly, participants illustrated the moments of acceptance with their new roles as mothers and the decision to exercise gratitude for the profound changes associated with postpartum recovery. One participant recognized the position of mothers in providing care and support to their children with little acknowledgment or reciprocation, sharing, “You give so much, because you chose them, they owe you nothing in return. I think you come to terms with that too when you have babies because what are they going to give you?” Another participant shared the complexity of varied comfort levels of motherhood while recognizing the swiftness of childhood development, stating, “Postpartum is really hard for me. I’m just not good at it. But luckily, it’s such like a small time, I think just seeing them grow and knowing you’re doing it for a reason,” leading to assumed acceptance within the postpartum recovery process for many participants and that their efforts are not without meaning. Here and Now In addition to the themes presented about the birthing and postpartum period, throughout the interview processes, we became aware of the connectedness among the participants. The participants spoke about their here-and-now experiences, feeling supported in the focus group setting.
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