Becoming a parent is an incredibly beautiful, yet very strange experience. We probably don’t spend enough time sitting with the sheer absurdity of it. A whole human life developing inside of another? Miraculous and surreal.
And then there are babies: round cheeks, oversized eyes, that new-baby smell. They sleep through the night, never cry, and make life instantly better…right?
…Right?
Well, not quite.
Parenthood is beautiful. But it’s also unpredictable, exhausting, and often filled with moments of doubt. The emotional weight is real, especially considering that 1 in 5 birth givers experience a perinatal mental health disorder.
“I think what people show on social media is the happy side of being a parent,” says Laura Rivera, Bilingual Clinical Mental Health Manager at FloCrit. “And it’s not all happy, it’s also super normal to miss certain parts of your life that once were.”
Teens spend nearly five hours a day on social media. For teen parents, the algorithm tends to send them the highlight reel of parenting—happy babies, glowing moms, and tidy homes. The hard parts, like postpartum depression, sleepless nights, and the responsibility of being a caregiver to a new human rarely make it into the feed.
“In the US, we’re so into the idea of a ‘bounce back’ culture. And they see that. But they also see women twice their age in their ‘bounce back era’ on TikTok,” Brooke Kimball, Parent Educator at FloCrit explains, “And so it’s just like this added pressure to not only be a good mom, but then also to look and act a certain way.”
Both Brooke and Laura work directly with teen moms at Florence Crittenton Services, supporting them through the challenges that can come with new parenthood.
In therapy sessions, Laura creates a safe space where teen parents can talk about the complex realities of postpartum life. She helps break down stigma and reminds them they’re not alone. “If you have a preexisting mental health disorder, which many of our students have gone through some type of trauma, then you’re at higher risk for postpartum,” Laura explains.
“You’re also grieving an identity,” she adds, noting that for teens, parenting means giving up parts of their own adolescence.
Chardon’ae, a FloCrit Class of 2025 graduate, put it simply:
“Having a baby and being postpartum and going to school, it’s probably going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life…At least when you’re an adult, you get to be an adult versus, like a teen parent, you don’t really get that adulting experience.”
During the first six weeks of maternity leave, Brooke checks in with each teen mom and administers the PHQ-9, a screening tool for depression. She sees firsthand how mental health outcomes are shaped by support systems.
“Our students that are supported by parents or relatives and strongly supported…they usually score lower,” she explains. “And then we see students who are living by themselves or don’t have anyone that’s there consistently, and we see a lot of isolation, they usually score higher because they just don’t have those protective factors, like family and friends helping them.”
Laura and Brooke’s tips for supporting someone who just had a baby:
- Offer practical help: Ask how you can support basic needs like sleeping or eating, and avoid showing up at their house expecting to be entertained. “If you’re not there to bring food or help them with the baby…You’re just an extra stress,” says Laura.
- Support their partner too: “Paternal postpartum depression is a thing,” Brooke states, “One in five birth givers will have postpartum depression, and one in ten birthing partners will experience postpartum depression.”
- Stick around: Postpartum doesn’t end after a few weeks, or even a few months. Mental health care during the perinatal period spans from conception until the child turns two. As Brooke puts it, “We can’t just assume everything’s going good just because they’ve been a parent for a year.”
This July, Laura and Brooke will share their insights on teen perinatal mental health at the Postpartum Support International (PSI) Conference, expanding the conversation and advocating for stronger support systems for teen families.
For more information on perinatal mental health, visit Postpartum Support International.
