📷 Key players Meteor shower up next 📷 Leaders at the dais 20 years till the next one
NATION NOW

Perfect moms don’t exist. Real moms do.

Ashley May
USA TODAY
Millennial moms don't want to give up their career, but also report feeling stressed trying to be a "perfect" parent, Dove data shows.

While 84% of moms believe the stereotype of the “perfect mom” is an outdated standard, nine out of 10 moms still feel pressure to be perfect, new data shows.

Becoming a mom welcomes a lot of opinions, about body image, breastfeeding, pacifiers or thumbs, working or staying at home, cloth diapers or disposables, screen time, bed time, vaccines, growth charts, photos on social media, making time for relationships ... the list goes on.

Andrea Ball, executive director of American Mothers, said despite more awareness, she doesn’t think moms have found a solution to handle unfair expectations – they just sleep less and sacrifice personal time.

“Modern moms still feel a lot of pressure that mothers have felt for decades,” Ball said in an email. “Regardless if you work or don’t, the pressure to accomplish too much daily is a challenge for moms.”

The research comes from a Baby Dove campaign that launched Thursday, with the message: “There’s no one right way to do it all.” Findings included data from a 2016 Baby Dove Real Mothers Heard study and a 2017 Edelman Intelligence survey of more than a thousand new moms on behalf of Dove.

A Dove commercial explores what it means to be a modern mom, featuring moms who are dancers, rock-climbers, single moms, ranchers, trans or moms trying to ignore the onslaught of advice.

Dove's new commercial tells moms: "Trust yourself."

The company isn't the only voice in the real mom movement. Celebrities haven't been afraid to own the truth associated with motherhood. Carrie Underwood, Amy Adams, Kerry Washington and Olivia Wilde are among many famous moms who've talked about embracing their post-pregnancy body and the pressure to "bounce back."

Anne Hathaway posted an Instagram photo post-pregnancy of her DIY-shorts with the inspiring message, "Bodies change. Bodies grow. Bodies shrink. It's all love (don't let anyone tell you otherwise.)"

Chrissy Teigen, also known for unapologetically being real about motherhood, posted an adorable photo of her daughter on Instagram in February, using the caption to shut down haters she anticipated: “This diaper is never not blue so don't even start with me”

Every day women are also changing the perception of what glowing moms should look like. For example, Alexandra Kilmurray of Florida shared a photo of her postpartum belly, stretch-marks and all and talked about her struggle to feel beautiful again in an Instagram post.

Last year, Amanda Bacon shared a photo on Facebook that her husband took, where she stood in hospital underwear packed with pads (a look nearly every mom has sported post-delivery). She said, "This is motherhood; it's raw, stunning, messy, and freaking hilarious all rolled into one. Having a baby is a beautiful experience, and the realities of postpartum life aren't spoken enough about. And definitely not photographed enough. Some people probably find this uncomfortable, but why?"

Ashley May is a new mom who podcasted her way through pregnancy. Listen to her journey on Due Date and follow her on Twitter: @AshleyMayTweets

Featured Weekly Ad