Baby bumps, likes, and pressure: motherhood in Cameroon’s social media age 🇨🇲🤰🏾

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In Cameroon, motherhood is gradually moving out of the privacy of the home and onto screens. Pregnancy announcements in Stories, monthly photos of growing baby bumps, candid posts about hormones, childbirth, and breastfeeding—more and more women are sharing their journeys into motherhood online. Somewhere between freer expression, digital solidarity, and new social pressures, this connected form of motherhood is reshaping how women experience pregnancy and parenting.

When pregnancy becomes a public story 📝🌐

Not long ago, pregnancy was something lived quietly—sometimes even in secrecy, especially during the early months. Today, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp have radically changed that relationship with intimacy. Some Cameroonian women announce their pregnancies through carefully scripted videos; others document, week after week, the physical changes, cravings, exhaustion, fears, and small joys that come with expecting a child.

“I shared my pregnancy because I didn’t want to pretend everything was fine anymore. I had nausea, mood swings, and I needed to talk about it with more people,” says Sandra, a young mother in Douala.

For her, social media became both an open diary and an emotional release valve. When comfort was hard to find offline, comments and shared experiences under her post brought relief.

By turning pregnancy into a shared narrative, motherhood becomes a collective experience. Comments sometimes replace advice from aunts, likes stand in for encouragement, and private messages turn into spaces of confidence between women who have never met in real life.

The maternal body, between acceptance and performance 🤍📸

One of the most visible aspects of online motherhood is the exposure of the maternal body. The ever-popular “before and after pregnancy” challenge continues to go viral across platforms. Transformed bodies, postpartum bellies, stretch marks, weight gain, visible fatigue—some women are choosing to show what used to be hidden.

“Before and after giving birth, I felt uncomfortable in my body. Seeing other women embrace their changes helped me accept myself too,” says Carole, a mother of two.

But this exposure can also create new forms of pressure. Bodies that seem to “bounce back,” pregnancies that appear effortless, and perpetually smiling mothers can set unrealistic standards.

“We show the beautiful images, but rarely the sleepless nights, postpartum depression, or loneliness—and that’s the problem,” says a midwife.

According to her, some women feel guilty for not living up to the ‘perfect motherhood’ scrolling past on their screens. Despite the comforting posts, many worry they’re falling short.

A connected motherhood, yet sometimes isolating 💭📱

Paradoxically, even as women share more, some feel lonelier than ever. Social media creates the illusion of constant support, but it doesn’t always replace physical presence. Once the videos are watched or posted, reality sets back in.

“People commented on my photos, but when I really needed help after giving birth, there was hardly anyone around. Online support doesn’t show up physically when you need it,” says Nadège. “It was hard, but my mother helped me get back on my feet.”

Online motherhood exposes a deeper contradiction: it brings people closer virtually, while revealing how vulnerable women remain in real life—facing mental load, financial strain, and powerful social expectations around motherhood in Cameroon.

Between empowerment and monetization 💼🤱🏾

This visibility has also opened new opportunities. Some mothers have become content creators, sharing parenting advice, selling baby products, or partnering with brands.

“I turned my experience as a mother into an activity. I help other women and earn some money from it,” says a “mom life” influencer.

Still, the line between genuine sharing and commercial performance is thin. Motherhood can become a product—monetized, scripted, filtered—sometimes at the cost of erasing its harsher realities.

A new voice that challenges long-standing taboos 🗣️✨

Despite its excesses, online motherhood has helped break long-standing silences. Postpartum depression, miscarriages, breastfeeding struggles, pregnancies outside marriage—topics once kept quiet are now finding space online.

“Before, we suffered in silence. Now, at least, we know we’re not alone,” says Mireille, a mother of three.

This digital expression is redefining motherhood in Cameroon—less idealized, more human, but also more exposed to scrutiny and judgment.

Between screens and cradles, a motherhood to rethink 🍼📲

Online motherhood in Cameroon is neither fully liberating nor entirely toxic. It reflects a society in transition, where women are trying to exist, tell their stories, and be understood in an increasingly connected world.

Motherhood has never been a competition for visibility. Yet on social media, it often becomes one—whether women seek it or not. Some find community; others lose themselves, comparing real pain to curated perfection. And as screens light up with baby bumps and smiling infants, one question lingers: what happens to a mother when the phone goes dark and the virtual applause fades?

Perhaps this is the real challenge of connected motherhood in Cameroon—learning how to use social platforms without surrendering all vulnerability to them; sharing without dissolving into performance; speaking without turning life into spectacle. Because while motherhood deserves to be told, it deserves even more to be lived—away from notifications, in the raw truth of love, exhaustion, and everyday courage. Giving life was never meant to be a show. Behind every posted photo lies a reality no filter or number of likes can fully capture.

Your opinions matter !!  
Do you think social media really helps women enjoy motherhood more, or does it create new silent pressures?