Yacht stewardess Hannah Ferrier, best known for appearing in five seasons of Bravo’s Below Deck Mediterranean, isn’t a mom quite yet, but she’s already standing up for working mothers and every woman’s right to create her own balance between family and career.
Ferrier announced in June that she was about five months pregnant with her first child. Earlier this week she posted an adorable picture of her bump with a caption celebrating the joys of pregnancy.
“I always thought people were crazy when they said they enjoyed being pregnant but I totally get it now!! I am absolutely loving everything about it!! From the changes in my body, to the closeness in my relationship, to feeling kicks and movement and I’m especially loving falling head over heels in love,” she wrote.
Most of the comments on the picture were encouraging, but one male poster couldn’t help but share his opinion on Ferrier’s personal life and career. “I hope that you will choose to retire from your yachting career and commit to raising your child personally, becoming a full time mother to your child,” he wrote.
Luckily Ferrier wasted no time putting the troll — who later admitted he has no children — in his place.
“Just because I retire from yachting doesn’t mean I will be a full time mother. Everyone is different and having a happy and fulfilled mother is a lot better for the child then having a mother who’s around 24/7,” she wrote.
Amen to that. Anyone who has been a full-time care giver to a child knows that it’s draining. Many parents — men and women alike — thrive when they have time away from their children, and there’s nothing wrong with choose that’s right for you.
Ferrier’s fans were quick to back her up and offer encouragement.
“Not everyone becomes a full time mother,” one fan wrote. “Some of us choose to work and actually enjoy that. A happy mother is the best mother for her child. She will do what she feels is best for her and her child.”
Another pointed out the value of having a whole community to help bring up baby.
“Lots of ppl ‘raise’ a child. Great teachers, nannies, cousins, aunties, uncles, friends, grandparents, and the world,” she wrote. “Nothing wrong with staying home but lots of women find it boring. And their children are just fine!”
One fan took a more assertive stance, calling out the patriarchal expectations that can make so many new moms feel down.
“What an idiotic response, and a shining example of the crap women face on the daily. Guess what? We can have children, and amazing careers,” she wrote. “Let’s not step back into the 50’s, boxing us into gender norms. We stepped out of the kitchen long ago, now we go because we want to not because we’re expected to! You’re picture perfect motherhood is a myth… moms can do it all and kids are better for it! Mine is watching me work a demanding career and finish my degree… and she’s flourishing despite my ‘selfish’ decision to have a career.”
Ferrier, who is a chief stewardess on a yacht, is at a crossroads. Not only is she pregnant, but she also announced last month that she is planning to retire from yachting, independent of becoming a mom.
“I want this to be a good, fun, enriching experience that allows me to travel a lot, but I don’t want to get to the stage where I’m locked into yachting and there’s nothing else in my life except that,” she said.
No matter what Ferrier embarks on next — launching a second career, being a full-time mom, or trying something different all together — we know she’ll be a great role model for her baby, with a supportive community of moms ready to back her up when needed.
