The Weight of a Newborn

Katherine Doyle explains what mothers of newborns can learn from the Blessed Mother.

Babies are incredible gifts from God. We are all in awe of them and love to hold them, feeling their weight in our arms. Smiles sneak across our faces when studying their faces. How wonderful it feels to hold a little brand-new baby! To behold a newborn is to truly recognize God’s light in the world.

All this to be said, holding a newborn versus having a baby is very different. For the mom, there is an even deeper sense of awe and love. The weight of this most precious gift can be overwhelming. A baby demands a mother’s complete attention, strength, and love. Motherhood is physically and mentally exhausting. It requires endless patience. Mothers experience a huge shift as their world permanently changes.

I have experienced this shock of the infancy period four times. With each baby, I am always humbled by how intense the newborn period can be. It is a time filled with contradictions. It is so special, and yet so hard. So fleeting, and yet so long. So inspiring, and yet so exhausting. The first three months demand all of you, the best of you. I lovingly refer to this period as the fourth trimester because the baby is so dependent. These babies are not truly ready to come out of the womb but because their heads are growing too big for the human pelvis, mother nature forces them out!

Mary: God's Gift to New Mothers

God knows how delicate this time is for both the mother and the baby. He knows having a newborn is all-consuming and challenging. If it was easy, it would not be nearly so special. To help mothers, God gives us many gifts, but above all He gives us the Blessed Virgin who provides strength and endless love. I wish I had been more aware of Mary’s presence when I was a brand-new mom.

With my first baby, I found motherhood very isolating. My husband had only two weeks of paternity leave. None of my friends had babies yet. It was just me and the baby figuring it out together. At night, I struggled in the wee hours when fits of hot rage and resentful exhaustion burdened my heart. I felt I was not doing it right. I was tired and I felt entirely alone.

When a friend’s older sister called to congratulate me on the baby, Sarah heard my despair in my voice. She reminded me that I was not alone. Mary, the Mother of God, was always with me! Sarah also reminded me that approximately 360,000 other mothers around the world gave birth the same day I did. There were so many moms in the world with a baby the exact same age trying to figure this out! I was not alone. Not even close.

That night, as I prayed to Mary while feeding my three-month-old, I imagined all the other moms up too. All those moms, in their spit-up-soaked shirts, rocking their babies, working so very hard made up a fleet of siloed warriors. Different homes, same mission. Can you imagine being Mary up in heaven hearing thousands upon thousands of mothers’ voices in all languages crying out prayers of gratitude and joy, coupled with requests for patience, strength, and precious sleep? Waves upon waves of prayers, reaching the heavens, in thanksgiving for these new babies! I instantly no longer felt alone.

What Moms Can Learn from Mary

Through prayers to Mary, I found God’s love. Mary guides us to God. Her life teaches us that true love always holds pain and hardship. The Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary (the Agony of the Garden, the Scourging at the Pillar, the Crowning with Thorns, the Carrying of the Cross, and the Crucifixion) are astounding when one actually considers the events through a mother’s eyes.

Even in the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary, there is pain! During the Presentation of Jesus, when Mary brings her infant son to the Temple in accordance with Jewish tradition, a prophet named Simeon recognizes Jesus as God and subsequently tells Mary that a sword will pierce her soul (Luke 2:22-38). On a day of celebration, Mary is told by a stranger how painful her journey of motherhood will be! Can you imagine? And yet, she keeps saying yes to God and embraces motherhood. She raises Jesus and suffers with Him in life.

Mary chose to be loyal and obedient, and to trust in God. The weight of her baby was tremendous. The weight of every baby feels tremendous to its mother. It shouldn’t weigh us down. Instead, it can raise us up. Like Mary, we can choose to use the weight of our baby to grow closer to God and become the mothers we were made to be.

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Copyright 2026 Katherine Doyle
Images: Canva