How to Know If You're Ready for Motherhood

Many women prepare their bodies and their lives for conception and the birth of their baby, but not for becoming a mother. How can you know if you’re ready for motherhood?

Preparing a nice room for the baby, buying clothes, food and diapers is only the practical side of having children. What about everything else?

Motherhood implies enormous mental and emotional challenges that you must know about before making the decision to become a parent. As a mother, you’ll have the opportunity and responsibility of being the pillar of the family, and of providing well-being and stability to your children.

That’s why it’s so important that you take care of yourself, devote time to yourself and are healthy both inside and out. If you ever wondered just how prepared you are to be a mother, then keep reading.

How to know if you’re ready for motherhood

Are you and your partner clear about why you want to be parents?

When planning the arrival of a baby, you should also examine the reasons why you’ve made the decision to become parents. I t is essential that both the mother and father have the same motivations and expectations in starting a family.

Before the baby is born, you must begin to define what values you want to teach them, and how you’ll face the changes in your relationship. The process of defining what principles will govern the family requires tolerance and long conversations.

Do you have a reliable and stable support network?

There may be times when you’ll feel overwhelmed and won’t know how to act. This is why you’ll need to prepare different strategies and people to support you in your new role as a mother. Think about the people and services that you might need at some time during motherhood.

Do you trust in yourself and your abilities?

Positive affirmations are useful for you to have self-confidence both before and during motherhood. Each day as a family will be a great challenge, a test you must prepare yourself for emotionally.

Think of encouraging statements that will help you reprogram your ideas during difficult times. This way you’ll have strong emotional backup that will encourage you to go on, and remind you that there is no obstacle too great for you to handle.

Do you know what your fears are, and which situations would cause you the most conflict?

A good exercise that will help you see if you’re ready for motherhood is to bring your fears to the surface. Think of events that could occur while you raise your children and plan ways that you can react to them.

The most important thing about this exercise is that you’re no longer hiding your fears; you’re starting to face them. You can now be confident that should any of those scenarios come to pass, then you’ll have the support and resources to overcome them.

Have you had the opportunity to look after other babies?

If you’ve already had children, you know what you’re up against, but if it’s your first time, you should try looking after other babies or children. Look after your nephews or your friends’ children for a few hours, or even for a whole day. Talking to mothers you look up to can also be very helpful.

Have you invested enough time looking after yourself?

When you become a mother, your priorities change significantly, and, for that reason, it’s really important to give yourself some space before becoming one. Do your favorite activities on your own or with others, exercise, or plan a small holiday with your partner.

Do you have dreams and projects?

Mothers often tend to leave their dreams and projects aside, in order to attend to their children’s needs. Although this is an act of love and sacrifice, in the long run it can leave you with a sense of frustration and sadness.

Ideally you should design some sort of plan or schedule so that you can also have your own space to do what you want in the family context. Even if your goals change over time, you must prioritize and fight for the things that are most important to you.

Once you’ve made sure that you’re as prepared as you can be for motherhood, then it will undoubtedly be the best experience of your life.