Moms Share Their Truths About Maternity Leave

Maternity leave looks different for everyone, but we can all agree that it’s far from the vacation that it has been pegged by with non-parents. For me, it was lying around my messy house, topless and nursing, watching the entire series of Downton Abby in three weeks.

I cried a lot because I was so tired and felt like I was constantly trying to work gas bubbles out of the baby. I asked other moms what their leaves were really like and their honest answers are why we need more support of new moms and longer paid leaves. Here’s what they had to say.