Earlier this month, an ad depicting a postpartum mother was banned from airing during the Oscars. It was created by Frida Mom, a company offering products to new moms, with the aim of demystifying postpartum recovery. ABC and the Academy Awards, however, ruled the ad "too graphic" for network TV.
In it, we see a woman (Laura Gilreath) waking up in the middle of the night to her child's cries. She's in pain, wincing and struggling to sit up. She slowly makes her way to the bathroom wearing the mesh underwear that hospitals give to new moms. Once on the toilet she contends with a large pad and a squeeze bottle of warm water, two vital supplies during the postpartum period. Throughout the ordeal, her baby continues to cry.
After the ad was banned, it went viral on YouTube and Instagram, with supportive comments rolling in from thousands of moms, including Busy Phillips and Ashley Graham. "The moment I saw that woman trying to get up from the bed I started crying. Postpartum is by far the worst and least talked about part of pregnancy," one commenter wrote on YouTube, where the ad has more than 3 million views.
When Gilreath was being cast, she had no idea the firestorm that would come. She spoke out to ELLE.com for the first time about the uproar, her own recovery, and what it's like to be at the center of an important conversation.
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