How to feel less alone in Motherhood (even when you’re not postpartum anymore)
Motherhood was never meant to be done alone… and neither was healing, hormones, or this season of life.
March 14 , 2026
I remember the early days of new motherhood.
The isolation.
So many tears.
Learning how to mother this new little guy… but also learning how to mother myself.
It was a whole thing.
I thought I could do it alone. Because that’s what we’re taught, right? That the transition to motherhood is an individual sport. It’s the high dive, not synchronized swimming.
You’re lucky if you have a supportive partner, but beyond that? Figure it out. On your own.
Same goes for healing. Postpartum and beyond. Oh, and here’s a prescription for the pill. Good luck.
How collective healing changed my postpartum experience
During my postpartum journey, signing up for a “baby and me” class changed my entire experience.
Yes, I got expert advice (the group was led by a midwife and lactation consultant), but more importantly, I tapped into collective healing with my peers.
Twelve women.
Going through the same thing.
At the same time.
Sometimes I didn’t need concrete answers like:
“Why is my baby (or my body) doing xyz?”
“How can I transition back to work?”
I just needed to hear:
“Omg. Me too.”
The sameness of the experience was the most pivotal part of my healing. And I made lifetime friends in the process.
I know many of us had something like this in the early days, but I also know many of you didn’t. Especially if you were a first-time moms navigating new motherhood back in the 2020 lockdowns, postpartum was incredibly isolating.
But what if you’re not postpartum anymore?
Here’s the tricky part.
What if you’re no longer in the baby and me stage?
What if the questions aren’t:
“How are you handling engorgement?”
“When are you going back to work?”
“When will these night sweats end?”
And now they’re:
“Is your PMS off the rails like mine?”
“WTF is up with these heavy periods?”
“Why am I still exhausted?”
(And honestly… maybe still the night sweats. Plus hair loss. Always hair loss.)
We still need collective healing and shared experience and it’s just harder to find as motherhood stretches on.
And when I say need, I mean it literally.
Read Next:
Why community is a health requirement (not a “nice to have”)
There’s a ton of data showing that social connection is one of the strongest predictors of health and longevity.
A large meta-analysis published in 2010 found that the strength and quality of our social relationships ranked equally in terms of health outcomes with:
Exercise
Not smoking
Diet quality
Some studies rank social connection even higher.
If you’ve ever looked into the Blue Zones, regions of the world where people commonly live healthy lives past 100, one of the only consistent threads across wildly different cultures is strong social connectedness.
From my perspective, through the lens of motherhood health and wellness, this is why regular interaction with other moms in similar seasons matters so much:
You realize you’re not broken.
Others are carrying the same mental, physical, and emotional load. Feeling alone can make healing feel impossible.
Stress hormones go down, feel-good hormones go up.
In-person connection reduces cortisol and adrenaline while boosting oxytocin and serotonin. The village is real and many of us are starving for it.
Mothers mother each other.
Moms are expert nurturers, but we need to be nurtured too. Being in a room with other moms scratches that itch in a way nothing else does.
You benefit from collective wisdom.
Recipes, resources, referrals, ideas and never underestimate the power of groupthink and hive mind.
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What you can do right now
Here’s what I want you to do:
Call a friend and see them in person, regularly.
And share the real details of how you’re actually doing.
If you don’t have a local group, stretch a little:
Say hi at the playground or school pickup
Plan playdates
Attend the meetups your Facebook mom group keeps posting
Knock on your neighbor’s door and ask if they want to go for a walk
You don’t need a huge social circle. One or two close connections matter more than you might think.
Join something.
A mommy-and-me class (even if it’s not your first kid).
A yoga class.
An art class.
A singing group.
Simply being in the presence of others starts shifting cortisol and oxytocin, even before deep connection forms.
If you’re craving community and support for hormones, energy, mood, or feeling like yourself again, you don’t have to figure that out solo. Learn more about The Motherlode here.
xo
Alison
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