People have an overly-romantic idea of what it's like to bring a newborn into the world, but it makes sense.
The human species has to propagate itself and if we were open about what it's really like to birth a baby, we'd probably be extinct.
After a woman gives birth, all of the attention shifts from her health to the beautiful baby in the blanket. Everyone asks baby's name, birth weight, and what time the beautiful bundle of joy arrived — while mom gets put in the corner.
Meanwhile, mom may be over the moon with her new child, but she's probably in pretty bad shape.
After giving birth, a woman can have any combination of the following postpartum issues: leg, feet, and ankle swelling, stitches in the perineum (the area between the vagina and the anus), lacerations in the vaginal canal, C-section scars, stretch marks, incontinence, vaginal bleeding, post-birth discharge, sore nipples from breastfeeding, hemorrhoids, constipation, and weakened ab muscles.
Culturally, we're pretty uncomfortable discussing women's health issues, so nobody hears about why mom has to keep running up the stairs to use the bathroom or is crying in the shower.
A poll taken by Orlando Health found that 26% of women who had recently given birth didn't have a plan for their health over the period known as the “fourth trimester," and 41% of those respondents indicated that they felt anxious, overwhelmed, or depressed after giving birth.
“All the attention becomes focused on the baby," Megan Gray, an obstetrician and gynecologist with Orlando Health, told Fox News. “We totally forget about mom."
via Amelia Makin
New mothers Kiki Burger and Amelia Makin decided that if nobody was thinking about mom, then they should.
In January, the pair launched Mor for Moms, a company that sells kits filled with what moms really need after childbirth.
“After our babies were born we were frantically texting each other trying to figure out which products to get to help with the immediate pain and care and we both kept saying, 'Why didn't anyone tell us we would feel like this?'" Makin told Forbes.
“But unlike with everything else for the baby that was usually solved with a single click on Amazon or a stop at a local CVS, we couldn't find the products in one place, or available without buying in large bulk amount," Makin continued.
“Given that 4,000 women give birth a day, it seemed crazy to us that these products just weren't readily available," Makin said.
via Mor for Moms
Mor for Moms sells postpartum self-care kits featuring maternity pads, mesh underwear, cooling pads, ice packs, a cleansing bottle, overnight pads, nipple pads, and nipple cream.
“All of the new moms kept telling us how helpful the kits were and how they felt less alone as they sat in the bathroom trying to figure things out," Makin said. “Pretty soon, people started requesting to purchase them for their friends."
The duo also set up a partnership with Mary's Center, a Washington D.C.-based community resource center. For every kit sold, Mor for Moms donates one to new moms in its Centering Pregnancy Program.
Upworthy got the chance to talk with Mor for Mom's co-founder Kiki Burger about her company and the taboos surrounding childbirth.
Why do you think these products haven't been packaged together before?
From the experience of my co-founder Amelia Makin and me, and what we've heard from many other new moms, it seems like no one has really talked about this before — until the nurse is taking you aside in your hospital bathroom when you can hardly stand up and telling you how your personal hygiene will work for the next week or three. Since there's been so little dialogue around it, we're just not seeing it reflected in the marketplace.
Why is it still taboo to discuss what happens to a woman's body after giving birth?
When you're pregnant, it's all about the mom, but the minute the baby is born, the mom is cast aside and the focus is all on the sweet baby. It's totally understandable, after all newborn babies are super cute and super vulnerable, but there needs to consideration too around the mom's health. How does she recover physically following a major medical procedure is a bit dissonant with the innocent beauty of a newborn.
What's the most difficult thing for women to discuss after giving birth?
How they are really feeling. Physically, it's a messy and hard time. Your body has changed. You have trouble walking. But you tend to never let on to people, trying to match how you think you should look after a baby. I mean, women frequently still look pregnant for awhile after giving birth. That's normal. And then there's the emotional side. Your life has completely changed. Your relationship with your partner has changed. You might experience postpartum depression. Let's just say it's a lot. And it's hard to talk about, especially with someone that didn't just go through it or hasn't before.
What do you know after giving birth that you wish you knew beforehand?
I wish I had known about the greatness that is mesh underwear. But seriously, I wish I had known about the recovery process I was going to experience. I had everything ready for the baby and took all the classes, but had no idea about my own self-care needs. I wish I had supplies ready for me at home. I'll never forget leaving my three-day-old at home to drive to CVS to try and find oversized pads and another squirt bottle. I wandered down the aisles in my diaper looking for these things, and they just don't sell them.
You've identified a huge hole in the market that exists because of the taboos surrounding women and birth. Do you see the same type of holes in the market when it comes to other women's health issues?
Absolutely. Your period, menopause, sex after baby, postpartum depression, women's viagra, the list goes one. With so little talked about, our goal is to at least get the discussion going around post-birth realities and its effects on a woman's body. And fill these gaps with products to make life just a little easier for women, give them one less thing to think and worry about.
Along our personal journey, we were fortunate to be well provided for and had supportive partners. That's why we've also built into our company a nonprofit partnership with Mary's Center, a community-based health center in Washington D.C. With a portion of our sales, we supply a kit to new moms in their Centering Pregnancy Program.
Beaver in water. Photo by 
An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Simpsons Gif
Aging happens in bursts, scientists find.
Research shows the body goes through specific changes in our 40s and 60s.
Medusa image of giant squid in Gulf of Mexico off of Mississippi Gulf CoastPhoto credit: 
Sign warning against feeding alligators next to alligator in Mississippi marshlandsCourtesy of Jacalyn Wetzel
Mississippi Gulf Coast beach in BiloxiCourtesy of Jacalyn Wetzel
2009 photo of giant squid caught in Gulf of Mexico near Mississippi GulfPhoto credit:
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."