For many moms, MotherB次元官网网址檚 Day is a welcome chance to indulge in a lavish brunch, receive a special gift or spend meaningful time with their families.

But many new moms are discovering a much different impulse once their newborn arrives: the desire to be left alone.

The phenomenon is casually known as being B次元官网网址渢ouched out,B次元官网网址� and birthing and nursing experts say itB次元官网网址檚 a widespread experience that should be more widely discussed.

Doula and psychotherapist Sondra Marcon describes it as a form of sensory overload amid a multitude of new demands from the baby and family life, with the strong sensorial aspect coming from the constant physical demands of nursing and soothing an infant while still recovering from the bodily trauma of pregnancy and childbirth.

As a result, many moms literally do not want physical contact with anyone aside from their baby, and can even find form-fitted clothes too stifling.

This is not a recognized medical condition, however, and without codified language to express whatB次元官网网址檚 going on, Marcon acknowledges it can be difficult for some women to put that struggle into words B次元官网网址� and for others to understand.

The terms B次元官网网址渢ouched outB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址渙verloadedB次元官网网址� come close to capturing the phenomenon, she allows.

B次元官网网址淧art of this is educating partners and saying: This is a real thing. This sensory overload is a real thing,B次元官网网址� says Marcon, who notes she sees it routinely when counselling new moms.

B次元官网网址淵ou go from having bodily autonomy, this ability to control your own body, to all of a sudden having something and someone who needs you 24 hours a day.B次元官网网址�

Cindy-Lee Dennis knows that feeling well. Her children are now ages 13 and 15 but she remembers the difficulties in breastfeeding two infants close in age, essentially back-to-back with little break in between.

B次元官网网址淵ou just get overwhelmed because thereB次元官网网址檚 life, as well, and youB次元官网网址檝e got a house and youB次元官网网址檝e got a job and thereB次元官网网址檚 just so much going on,B次元官网网址� says Dennis, a nursing and medicine professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Toronto.

B次元官网网址淪ometimes youB次元官网网址檙e just like: I just need a break B次元官网网址� I need everybody to get off me, to stop touching me, stop demanding things of me. I just need a break.B次元官网网址�

Dennis, also WomenB次元官网网址檚 Health Research Chair at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. MichaelB次元官网网址檚 Hospital, points to research out of Australia that found breaks can have a preventative effect for postpartum depression.

B次元官网网址淲omen who donB次元官网网址檛 have breaks are more likely to develop postpartum depression than women who do have breaks,B次元官网网址� says Dennis.

That doesnB次元官网网址檛 necessarily mean a day at a spa, she adds. But it does mean breaking from household responsibilities and child care for several consecutive hours, a couple of times a week: B次元官网网址淎 time where itB次元官网网址檚 soothing, itB次元官网网址檚 something that you enjoy,B次元官网网址� she says.

Of course, thatB次元官网网址檚 easier said than done for many parents without the same support networks that existed before the pandemic. Dennis says a more enduring solution is to enlist ongoing help, noting the bulk of household labour still typically falls on women.

B次元官网网址淲e should be really supporting co-parenting strategies where parents work together as a team, instead of like, moms have their defined roles and dads have their defined roles or partners have their defined roles, and everybody does their own little thing,B次元官网网址� she says.

B次元官网网址淔or example, breastfeeding. We think that thatB次元官网网址檚 a womanB次元官网网址檚 role. Well, the partner can be very involved and supportive if the motherB次元官网网址檚 goal is exclusively breastfeeding to six months.B次元官网网址�

Marcon agrees, and says sheB次元官网网址檇 like to see a greater understanding of the concept of B次元官网网址渢ouched outB次元官网网址� by physicians, therapists and partners B次元官网网址渢o look at it as more than just one thing, because itB次元官网网址檚 1,000 things.B次元官网网址�

Eliminating other sensory inputs may help, she adds, suggesting overwhelmed moms break from social media or turn off the TV in the space theyB次元官网网址檙e in.

Angela Grant Buechner, a registered nurse, newborn care specialist and lactation consultant who hosts a momB次元官网网址檚 group online, says she hears exhausted new moms use the term B次元官网网址渢ouched outB次元官网网址� when trying to explain why they may not want to have sex or be intimate with their partner.

B次元官网网址�(If I asked) who has identified with this term at some point in their lives? I will say probably 100 per cent will agree,B次元官网网址� says Buechner, in the field for 20 years.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a way of explaining exhaustion. Because literally, youB次元官网网址檙e holding a child all day.B次元官网网址�

Grant Buechner, owner of Nutmeg Consulting in Toronto, says this phenomenon typically unfolds during the newborn phase and is most intense with those clingy years that could extend into toddlerhood.

B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 even think new moms necessarily know that this is a thing until it happens,B次元官网网址� she says.

B次元官网网址淏ut itB次元官网网址檚 almost more important for partners to know this is a thing that happens. DonB次元官网网址檛 be offended by it. This is your partner giving everything to this new baby and you need to be understanding of it. How can you support them better?B次元官网网址�

Marcon says most moms with young kids can best be recognized MotherB次元官网网址檚 Day through efforts to make their day easier: prepare a meal, offer to walk the dog or do the laundry.

B次元官网网址淚t isnB次元官网网址檛 about flowers and candy and an hour to yourself,B次元官网网址� she says.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 about long-term sustainable solutions, so that mothers and babies thrive.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擟assandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press