The Mumologues
I write a monthly column for Women’s Health called The Mumologues, where I try to inject some nuance to conversations around modern parenthood.
“This is WH's new honest parenting column from Rose Stokes, a 36-year-old writer living in Bath with her husband and toddler son. In a time of supercharged polarity – with much online discourse about raising kids dominated by stories of pure hardship or images of bucolic perfection – she's here to tread the middle path. From the (very real) challenges of modern mothering to the bliss of a tiny finger grabbing yours, she'll discuss it all.”
‘Where has she gone? On the loss of who I used to be, now I'm a mum’
‘I thought I'd be a “natural mother”. Turns out, there's no such thing’
‘I've never needed to be mothered more than when I became a mother myself’
‘I rejected picking a parenting technique tribe – the middle way is much more pleasant’
‘It's not often you hear a positive birth story, but it's important that you do’
‘The moment I accepted my ambivalence about it, motherhood was easier for me’
‘It's easy to get sucked into competitive parenting, but no one wins the baby race’
'In the depths of postnatal depression, I never imagined I’d have a second baby'
'If you think a mum is doing a good job, tell her – we all deserve feedback at work'
'I had to stop breastfeeding – and no one warned me about how much I'd grieve'
New mums: Don’t dismiss your exhaustion – here's why it could be iron deficiency
Dispatches from my plus-size pregnancy
'I've been on both sides of the parenting friendship divide. This is what I've learnt'