Doireann Garrihy has opened up about the judgement she has faced after announcing her pregnancy.
She has been sharing her excitement to become a mother for the first time on social media.
Earlier this year she announced she and her husband, Mark Mehigan, are expecting.
Speaking to her sister Ailbhe, who is also pregnant, the pair opened up about guilt, judgement and mammy shame.
“I made an iced coffee and somebody replied [on social media] saying, ‘I really hope that’s decaf for the baba’,” Doireann admitted on her Doireann and Friends podcast.
“Generally, I would ignore, but I just replied and said: ‘My doctor told me I could have a coffee a day.’ That was my way of mic-drop, ‘There is no discussion’.”
She went on to say: “I was kinda like, first of all, why are you saying this to me, and second of all, it’s none of your business. I don’t know how I’m going to prepare for A) judgement from people, and B) mom guilt as a result of people being judgey.”
Ailbhe also shared her experience with mam shamers on the internet as she is mother to Séan and Fionn.
She explained that if she shared a picture of the boys in the car it would “open the floodgates” to comments like “They’re not strapped in properly” or “They shouldn’t be forward facing.”
“You haven’t physically been here to examine exactly how tight the thing is; their weight…” she shared.
Doireann added that she got a message from someone who told her that they knew she was pregnant because her Dancing with the Stars outfits were “very leg-focused”.
She also shared the story of someone messaging her constantly before she announced her pregnancy.
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“First of all, when I hadn’t announced, when I had said anything to anyone, there was one person who kept writing to me on Instagram saying ‘I think you have news for your followers’ wink, wink,” she said.
“So when you get that message, of course my brain went into overdrive. I was like okay, was I seen in the hospital, I look pregnant or who have I said it to you that maybe said it somewhere.”
“And it wasn’t a faceless account. The woman looked like she was in her forties. Surely women need to understand like just say nothing.”
