“There is no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one.” -Jill Churchill
When you are exhausted, it is easy to feel like you are falling short in every area of your life, but especially as a mom. I have been there, moving through the day in a fog, wondering why I woke up just as tired as the night before and why the simplest tasks felt more difficult than they should. Motherhood asks a lot of us, physically, mentally, and emotionally, and it is easy to assume that constant fatigue is just part of life. But caring for your family, paying attention to your health, and holding everything together speaks for itself. You are showing up even when you’re running on empty. You are paying attention even though it takes more energy than you have. Those things matter more than you may realize.
From a functional perspective, chronic fatigue is often normalized in motherhood, but it should not be considered a normal physiological state. There is a difference between being tired after a full day and feeling persistently exhausted no matter how much you sleep. Increased demands, interrupted sleep, and full schedules can absolutely contribute to temporary fatigue, but when that exhaustion doesn’t ever go away, that usually means something deeper is going on. This kind of fatigue can show up gradually, and oftentimes moms don’t even notice how bad it’s getting. Waking up tired even after a full night of sleep, relying on caffeine or sugar just to get through the day, hitting a wall in the afternoon, and feeling like your capacity to handle normal stress keeps shrinking. These are not character flaws or signs of a failing mom; they are patterns that point to underlying imbalances within the body.
In practice, I often see several common contributors behind this kind of fatigue. Blood sugar that rises and falls too quickly can leave you riding an energy roller coaster throughout the day. Nutrient deficiencies, especially in iron, B vitamins, magnesium, and vitamin D, can limit the body’s ability to produce and sustain energy. Chronic stress can disrupt the body’s natural rhythm, affecting how your brain and adrenal system respond to daily demands. Gut dysfunction, including poor absorption, imbalances in bacteria, or inflammation, can interfere with how nutrients are processed and how the immune system functions. Thyroid patterns, including suboptimal hormone conversion or autoimmune activity, can subtly slow down metabolism and energy production. Even sleep that looks adequate on paper may not be restorative if the circadian rhythm is off or sleep quality is poor.
These findings are quite common; I see these patterns over and over again in women who have been told their labs look normal and that everything is fine. Meanwhile, they continue pushing through each day, assuming this is just what motherhood feels like. Culturally, we have learned to accept this level of exhaustion. We even joke about it, saying, “I’ll sleep when the kids are grown.” We brush it off and push through because what choice do we have? But ongoing fatigue is not something the body is designed to sustain long term, and it really shouldn’t be ignored.
As a practitioner, I look at fatigue as a message. The body is communicating that something needs support, something needs to be addressed, something is out of balance. As a mom, I understand how easy it is to put that message on the back burner while you care for everyone else. Change begins with recognizing that this level of exhaustion is not something you have to accept. You can be a present, engaged mother without constantly running on empty. You can support your body in a way that allows you to be present with more focus, more energy, and more capacity for the life you are already living.
It’s true; there are a million ways to be a good mother, and none of them require you to ignore what your body is telling you for the sake of your family. “When a mother is restored, everything around her begins to heal too.” – Becky Maupin
Becky is a wife, mom of four boys, nurse, and Functional Health Practitioner who’s passionate about helping women feel like themselves again. After spending over a decade in women’s health, it was her own journey through motherhood that highlighted the gaps in our healthcare system.
Now, she applies her medical knowledge through a functional medicine lens to uncover the root causes of symptoms and help women move from surviving to thriving. Becky is the founder of Rooted and Restored Functional Health, where she walks with moms looking for real answers and lasting wellness. Learn more at www.rootedandrestoredhealth.com
