My mother made motherhood look easy; reality taught me otherwise – Boatemaa Duffour

Ghanaian business executive Boatemaa Duffour Barfour-Awuah has opened up about the realities of motherhood, admitting that she entered the journey believing it would be far easier than it turned out to be.

Speaking at the second edition of Convergence of Mothers organised by media personality MzGee, Barfour-Awuah said her expectations of motherhood were largely shaped by watching her own mother, who appeared to manage parenting with remarkable ease.

"I think my mother made it look so good and so easy that I didn't expect a lot of the shocks," she told participants.

According to her, she had always been focused on her career and had a clear vision for her future within her family's business empire. Even after getting married, she had carefully mapped out how she wanted the next phase of her life to unfold.

She recalled planning to spend at least a year enjoying married life before starting a family, only to discover that she was expecting a baby much sooner than anticipated.

"I had a honeymoon baby," she said.

While the pregnancy initially appeared to be progressing smoothly, an unexpected complication changed everything.

At six months pregnant, she visited the hospital after noticing slight bleeding, expecting what she thought would be a routine medical check-up. Instead, doctors diagnosed her with placenta previa, a condition that required immediate hospitalisation.

The diagnosis came as a shock. Not only was she unfamiliar with the condition, but she was also informed that she could not return home and would have to remain under medical supervision until the baby was delivered.

For a woman accustomed to a fast-paced professional life, the experience was difficult to process.

"I was dressing up to work when it happened," she recalled.

What followed were several weeks in hospital, far removed from the routines and responsibilities that had previously defined her life.

Looking back, Barfour-Awuah believes that period became one of the most important lessons of her motherhood journey.

The experience taught her that motherhood is not simply about giving birth but about embracing uncertainty, sacrifice and responsibilities that often arrive without warning.

"It made me appreciate that this was going to be a new journey for me," she said.

According to her, the prolonged hospital stay gave her time to reflect on the reality that another life now depended entirely on her choices and decisions.

The experience also challenged assumptions she had unknowingly carried into motherhood.

Rather than being the seamless transition she had imagined, motherhood demanded emotional resilience, patience and a willingness to adapt when circumstances changed unexpectedly.

For Barfour-Awuah, that lesson remains one of the defining moments of her life.

Today, as a business leader and mother, she says she has a deeper appreciation for the challenges women face during pregnancy and childbirth, as well as the sacrifices that often go unseen.

"Motherhood is not as easy as it looks," she said.