Mother’s powerful Facebook photo reveals post-natal struggle: ‘I was so raw and open’

Danielle Haines gave birth to her beautiful baby boy in November 2014.

Now, almost a year later, she has decided to upload a very raw and honest photo of herself cradling her newborn son.

With tears in her eyes, Danielle looks overwhelmed by motherhood.

And, in a powerful message accompanying the photo, Danielle has explained exactly how she felt at the time in a bid to get other mums talking about postpartum struggles.

Her message reads:

*This is a picture of me 3 days postpartum. I was so raw and so open, I was a f**king mess. *

*I loved my baby, I missed his daddy (he went back to work that day), I was mad at my mum, my heart hurt for my brother because my mom left us and now I had a little boy that looked like him, my nipples were cracked and bleeding, my milk was almost in, my baby was getting really hungry, I was feeling sad that people kill babies, like on purpose, I had not slept since I went into labor, I didn't know how to put my boobs away, my vagina was sore from sitting on it while nursing constantly, I was kinda loosing my mind. *

*Katie came over and feed me the morning this picture was taken. She might have even stopped over to feed me lunch. Then one of my 7 sisters came that evening to bring the family dinner, Sarah. Sarah took this picture of me. *

*She walked in with food and said, "Hi! How are you!?" I said, "I'm a mess." We talked, she listened, she said, "I've been right where you are." *

*It helped to know she went crazy once too!!! *

*Then she said, "I know this might sound crazy but do you have a camera? You look so raw and so beautiful." *

*I'm so glad she took this picture. She was just planning to drop off food. She ended up staying for much longer. I needed her. She knew it. *

I called Rachel, I needed her. I needed her to nurse my baby, I needed more help with his latch. I called Shell. I needed her to tell me my baby was ok. This is real PP mamas. Those of you who have done it before... will you share what your immediate PP felt like?

I had a magical Postpartum. It wasn't easy but I was so supported and fed and reminded that the mothers before me had been through this part of motherhood, and that I'd get through it just fine too.*

The image, which was uploaded on the 12th September, has definitely struck a chord with mums everywhere.

And within five days it had been shared more than 19,000 times.

One grateful mum, after seeing the image, commented:  "Thank you for sharing this part of motherhood. Raw open and beautifully crazy. I didn't even recognise myself [postpartum]. Then I had to get to know not only my baby but myself."

Another bravely added: "Totally how I felt in my experiences, too.”

Can you relate to the image?

Let us know about your own postpartum struggles on Facebook or Twitter (@CloserOnline) now.