When Janet stood in her Paris apartment, sleep-deprived and clutching her newborn, she broke. Through tears, she turned to her husband and said four words that would change everything:
“I need my mom.”
She had no idea that at that very moment, her mother Miss Kay and sister Jessica were already in the sky, flying across the ocean to answer that silent prayer. One week later, Janet opened her front door, and there they were. No warning. No words. Just arms wide open.
“So when I saw them, it was relief,” Janet says. “Whatever was heavy on my shoulders just dropped.”
Jessica, who had secretly started filming the surprise, captured the raw moment on TikTok. The overlay read:
“POV: Postpartum. Alone. Struggling. Then your mom and sister show up at your door. Flew across the world just to hold you. This is what love looks like.”
The clip went viral almost instantly. But more than a heartwarming moment, it sparked a bigger conversation, about the hidden struggles of postpartum life, the vulnerability of motherhood, and the power of women showing up for each other.
“I literally broke down in tears, begging my husband for help,” Janet tells PEOPLE. “I cried out for my mom.”
She had expected her mom and sister to be there for the birth, but flight delays and standby travel meant they couldn’t make it. And in their absence, something in Janet shifted.
“Even though [my husband] was there, I needed them,” she says. “I needed that maternal, guided support.”
For Janet, who prided herself on independence, motherhood cracked something open.
“I’ve always been independent. I never really asked for help,” she says. “But when I got pregnant, everyone said, ‘You’ll need us,’ and I was like, ‘No, I’ve got this.’ But I didn’t.”
When her mom and sister walked in, they didn’t ask questions. They just got to work.
“Okay, take a shower, go to sleep. We got it for the night,” Janet remembers them saying. She hadn’t realized how much she needed to be cared for.
Miss Kay, who was raised as one of 15 siblings, understood that instinct deeply. “I thought I didn’t need anyone when I had my first child either,” she says. “But once that baby comes, everything changes. You do need your mother. You do need help.”
Jessica knew too. “When I had my first baby at 21, I had no idea what to do,” she says. “My aunt came and stayed for a month. What I did for Janet is exactly what they did for me.”
Their visit lasted just a short time, but left a long-lasting impact. The fridge was full. The apartment was clean. And Janet finally had time to sleep, shower, and simply breathe.
Afterward, she made the decision to temporarily move back to the U.S. to be closer to her support system.
“I knew I needed the village,” she says. “Not just to recover physically, but to be mentally well. To feel whole.”
The video prompted thousands of responses from women around the world who saw themselves in Janet’s story.
“Women kept saying, ‘I wish someone had told me how hard this is,’” she says. “Others said, ‘I needed my mom too.’ It was almost like a collective sigh.”
Some even took action. “One woman even came and did my hair at my apartment,” Janet says, still moved.
Miss Kay believes the video gave women permission to ask for help. “It’s okay to ask for help,” she says. “Sometimes you just have to show up and hold the baby.”
And if you’re not sure how to help? Jessica says just listen. “They’ll tell you what they need without even meaning to,” she says. “And if you don’t know, just do.”
These days, Janet is still in the thick of new motherhood. Still crying. Still breastfeeding. Still figuring it out.
“I’m still in it,” she says. “It’s overwhelming, even with help. But I’m doing my best. And I’ve realized that has to be enough.”
@mindful.jay I’ve been trying to hold it all together… but today, I couldn’t. My mama and sister surprised me this morning, flew all the way from the States to Paris just to be here with me during postpartum. Soon as I saw them, I broke. That kind of love? That kind of showing up? It’s something only Black women know how to do so deeply. I needed them more than I could say. I’ll never forget this. #postpartum #postpartumrecovery #4thtrimester #fyp #firsttimemom #family ♬ Know That You Are Loved – Cleo Sol
When she watches the video now, it’s more than a sweet memory.
“It’s a sacred circle,” she says. “That moment between women, it’s vulnerability, love and legacy. It’s motherhood in motion.”
And her hope is simple…that other women feel seen.
“That moment changed everything,” Janet says. “It taught me I don’t have to carry it all alone. And I don’t want other women to think they have to either.”
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