Freida Pinto is getting candid about her intense postpartum journey — and she isn't holding back.
The actor, who welcomed her son Rumi-Ray in November, says that although she felt well prepared for motherhood, it has still been a "wild ride."
That's why she wants to do as much as possible to help other mothers as they enter the new phase of their lives.
"The Postpartum journey has been one of the most intense and wild rides I have ever been on. It felt like the months being pregnant and even childbirth were little appetizers to this grand main course," Freida wrote on Instagram.
She continued, "Preparation was so key to this life altering phase of mothering and I feel so proud, relieved and blessed to have walked into it with knowledge, research and support. But what does it really mean to be postpartum 'prepared.'"
Freida went on to mention the things that new mothers may go through even if they are well prepared — and that it's totally valid to have that experience.
"It certainly doesn't mean you won't feel sad, lonely, frustrated and helpless at times. Or that you will be wonderfully rested and have no sleep deprivation. Or that you won't snap at your well intentioned partner and break down in tears," she wrote.
She continued, "Or that your nipples won't be sore and that for some of us our toes will curl everytime our little baby birds open up their sweet mouths to latch. Or that you will never doubt your milk supply or for some, be worried about being judged for choosing the formula route."
Freida explained that the importance of preparing for this phase of life is less about knowing everything and more about knowing "how best to tackle all of this and to not feel abandoned by a health care system that focuses so much on your pregnancy and birth and somehow disappears when you are most vulnerable and in the most challenging phase of your life."
Freida added that she hopes her openness about the postpartum period will help "normalize conversations about the challenges and changes" faced by new moms.
