American mothers are spread thin and feeling the strain of unrealistic  parenting expectations. The lack of parental leave, rising healthcare costs, and constant messaging from both media and social media about how to be a "good mother" can leave us confused and depleted. Add a pandemic on top of that, and you have a recipe for disaster. We spoke to Jessica Grose, an opinion writer at The New York Times and author of Screaming on the Inside: The Unsustainability of American Motherhood, about the dynamics of motherhood in the U.S., why so many of us feel unsupported and under-resourced, how this impacts our physical and emotional health, and most importantly, what changes we can implement in our personal lives and at the policy level to empower ourselves, our children and our communities.

<p>American mothers are spread thin and feeling the strain of unrealistic <a href="https://www.webmd.com/parenting/what-to-know-about-parental-burnout"> parenting</a> expectations. The lack of parental leave, rising healthcare costs, and constant messaging from both media and social media about how to be a "good mother" can leave us confused and depleted. Add a pandemic on top of that, and you have a recipe for disaster. We spoke to <a href="https://jessicagrose.com/">Jessica Grose</a>, an opinion writer at The New York Times and author of <em>Screaming on the Inside: The Unsustainability of American Motherhood</em>, about the dynamics of motherhood in the U.S., why so many of us feel unsupported and under-resourced, how this impacts our physical and emotional health, and most importantly, what changes we can implement in our personal lives and at the policy level to empower ourselves, our children and our communities.</p>

WebMD Chief Physician Editor Neha Pathak, MD, and Chief Medical Officer, John Whyte, MD, MPH, explore fascinating stories to find the unexpected things that help us understand our health.

Health Discovered

American mothers are spread thin and feeling the strain of unrealistic  expectations. The lack of parental leave, rising healthcare costs, and constant messaging from both media and social media about how to be a "good mother" can leave us confused...