motherhood

Elsa Walsh is the author of “Divided Lives: The Public and Private Struggles of Three American Women.” She is a former Washington Post reporter and New Yorker staff writer. This essay is adapted from a speech she delivered at St. Mary’s College of Maryland on April 5. The original article can be found on the Washington Post.

Every Mother Counts is rolling out a brand new chapter and since our theme in March is Every Story Counts, we think it’s the perfect time to launch. We’re creating a Global Birth Club – an international gathering of pregnant women from all over the world who are coming together to share their stories through our blog, month-by-month throughout their pregnancies, births and beyond. Our plan is to compare, contrast, support and connect over the universal truths of pregnancy, birth and motherhood, which are similar across the globe, but distinct and unique for every mother.

Congratulations to American Kristin Armstrong, 39, who won the gold medal in the Olympic cycling time trial on Wednesday. Kristin previously won gold in Beijing, but this time she had her 2 year old son, Lucas, to cheer her on. In an interview posted at www.teamusa.org, Kristin is candid about the challenges of training as new mom saying, "It's been the hardest journey. It's been a hard 20 months leading up to [this race], a lot of ups and downs." Not only was Kristin breastfeeding when she began her training, but caring for a new baby didn't allow her body the rest necessary to recover from her gruelling training. Her coach Jim Miller said: "This time, it couldn't all be about her. It had to be abut Lucas and he had to be included. ... You normally don't have plastic toys at the start of a stage race."