I look at how other countries

 I look at how other countries treat mothers and I can’t help but feel angry and heartbroken. In Poland, mothers get a full year of paid maternity leave. In Sweden, parents split over a year and a half of paid leave. In Canada, moms have time to heal, bond, and actually adjust to life with a newborn without the fear of losing their job or their income.

And then I look at us here in the Netherlands. Moms are expected to give birth and be back at work in just weeks. Some are forced back within days. They’re still bleeding, still trying to breastfeed, still waking up every two hours with a newborn, and yet our culture tells them to just “push through” and pretend like nothing happened.

We talk a lot about “family values” here, but the reality is our society doesn’t value mothers at all. It values productivity. It values work. It values profit. Mothers are left to figure it all out on their own, to hold themselves together while their bodies and minds are still in pieces.

Other countries look at mothers and see women who need time, support, and care. The US looks at mothers and sees workers who need to get back to the grind. And until that changes, until we demand more for the women raising the next generation, mothers here will keep breaking in silence.