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Former first lady Michelle Obama answered a listener’s question about motherhood during a podcast Wednesday, arguing that society gives different signals about motherhood.
Obama took the question from a listener while speaking with actress Halle Bailey on her podcast, “IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson.” A listener, Abigail, noted that she is a first-time mom and high school music teacher who took a year off to care for her child and was looking for advice about getting back to work and being a mom.
“Our maternity leave policy is ridiculous if you have to follow one, because most of them are three months, four months. I mean, that doesn’t even give a woman’s body time to fully recover,” Obama said, “Even if you give birth naturally, let alone let your hormones stabilize, because your body is still saying, ‘I’m breastfeeding this baby,’ literally the breast. So your hormones are telling you to do one thing. And the social structure is telling you to do another.”
Former first lady Michelle Obama said society gives women mixed messages about motherhood. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty)
She argued that society does not support the “natural needs” of mothers.
“And I think we have to start understanding that that’s really happening. You know, we don’t live in a society that fully respects and fully values childbirth. Like, we want people to get it — ‘don’t have an abortion!'” Obama said. “But you know, we’re not really thinking about how we can create a space for all women to be able to heal, focus, and make decisions at the right time about when they’re ready to move on.”
He closed his thoughts by saying that the program does not work for mothers because there are no support programs for them.
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Former first lady Michelle Obama often talks about motherhood and the challenges women face on her podcast. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
The former first lady said she likes to commit to things 100%, but said women must forgive themselves for sometimes dividing their attention.
“I think we have to tell ourselves that really, sometimes 40% is right. Sometimes 30% is right, sometimes 70% is right, right? Because we’ve talked about this before, kids are a lot tougher than we give them credit for,” he said. “You know, they won’t stop loving us because we leave the house to do work. It doesn’t work that way, you know. It won’t be broken if a mother has love that she wants to follow, but it’s hard to know that when it’s your child.”
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Former first lady Michelle Obama, years after leaving the White House, continues to have a huge cultural impact. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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