Writing a Mommy Blog Helps New Mothers Destress

When I was a new mom personal computers hadn’t become household items. To relieve the stress of around-the-clock feedings and diaper changes, I napped, called my mom, took my son for a walk, and watched David Letterman during the late-night feeding. Today new mothers are writing mommy blogs to help relieve the stress of parenthood.

Becoming a first-time mother has to be one of the most stressful experiences a woman can have. Of course there’s the joy of having this tiny baby, but there’s also the doubt and second guessing about so many things. Why is the baby crying? Is she sleeping too little/too much? Is she eating enough? Why does she poop so much? When does it get easier?

New study

Researchers at Penn State and Brigham Young University surveyed 157 new mothers about their use of media and well-being. All of the mothers were first-time parents with babies under 18 months of age (most were much younger than that).

Sixty-one percent of new mothers said they blog, and 76 percent read other moms’ blogs. The overwhelming reason for blogging (89 percent) was to document their personal experiences or share them with others. Eighty-six percent of new mothers wanted to keep in touch with family and friends by blogging.

Benefits of mommy blogs

There were times during those early days of motherhood when I don’t think I could have strung two words together, let alone produced a coherent blog. But new mothers today are deriving benefits from blogging. Blogging helps them

• feel less alone
• feel connected to, and supported by, family and friends
• develop stronger connections to family and friends (especially if they blog frequently)
• reduce marital stress and conflict, and parenting stress
• feel less depressed
• provide a showcase for their hobbies and talents (especially useful for stay-at-home moms)

A new mom’s day

When asked how they spent their days, new mothers, on average, spent

• 9 hours a day caring for their baby
• 7 hours a day sleeping
• 3 hours a day on the computer

Blogging is better

Researchers found that blogging had a positive impact on new moms, but social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, didn’t seem to impact well-being. As one of the first studies of its kind, researchers have more work ahead of them to figure out why blogging seems to have such a positive impact on new moms’ well-being.