Love, Mom: Inspiring Stories Celebrating Motherhood―Balancing Career Aspirations and the Profound Gift of Raising Children

by Nicole Saphier

From Fox News medical contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier, comes an inspiring collection of powerful first-person stories celebrating motherhood, from Fox News personalities and extraordinary moms around America.

Unmatched and unwavering, mothers are the embodiment of selfless, pure, and unconditional love. But so often, the sacrifices and triumphs of motherhood go unrecognized. Now, in Love, Mom, Fox News medical contributor and mom of three, Dr. Nicole Saphier, shines a light on the power of a mother’s love, with inspiring first-person stories from moms in the Fox News family.

For Dr. Saphier—who was just a teenager when she gave birth to her first son—motherhood was a transformative responsibility. Her story, like so many moms featured in this book, is an inspiration for what it means to be there for your child, no matter where you are in life. Alongside Dr. Saphier’s account are deeply personal contributions from FOX News anchors and personalities, such

Ainsley Earhardt, on the precious bond between mother and daughter, the loss of her own mom, and the power of her faith. Rachel Campos-Duffy, on raising nine children, unexpected blessings, and dedicating her life to advocating for education and awareness about children with Down Syndrome. Kayleigh McEnany, on embracing motherhood despite health challenges, and the delicate balance between career aspirations and the profound gift of raising children. Janice Dean, on navigating the heartbreak of miscarriage, living with an autoimmune disease, and finding joy in raising boys. Martha MacCallum, on the challenges of juggling career and family, the myth of perfection, and the importance of being kind to yourself. Sandra Smith, on how motherhood truly takes a village, and the value of a strong support system as a working mom. Carley Shimkus, on being a new mom, and balancing new responsibilities with grace and determination. In Love, Mom, these mothers share their powerful stories, greatest challenges, and insightful reflections about young motherhood, miscarriage, ovarian cancer, mixed race children, postpartum depression, domestic violence, adoption, blended families, and more. Ultimately, Love, Mom is a celebration of motherhood and reminds us that a mother’s strength and love is an extraordinary gift.

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook

240 pages, Hardcover

Published April 16, 2024

About the author

Nicole Saphier (born January 26, 1982) is an American radiologist and the director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Monmouth, New Jersey. She is well known for providing her opinions as a contributor on Fox News, Fox Business, and MSNBC.

(Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Kat Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the absolute best books I’ve read in a while! I laughed and cried while listening to this one. I easily identified with several of the moms sharing stories of how they became moms and how their own mothers, family, faith, and often friends helped them settle comfortably into motherhood. I loved this so much that I immediately bought the audiobook version and sent it to my own daughter. It helps those of us accept our decisions we made while mothering our little angels as best we could. Sometimes, I look back and think, “I wish I had done things differently”, and others it helped me see I needed to go ahead and forgive myself for some decisions I made that seemed great at the time, but now I might question. It’s a LOVELY book with stories from mothers we feel we know (if you watch Fox News) and how their own mothers and their faith helped guide them through their journey. Excellent book! Easy to recommend! 😍

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everyday basic stories of persevering as a mother with a focus around Fox News employees. I wish the stories were more profound, emotional, and gripping than they were.

Essays less about relationships with mothers, more about simply being a mother. Many involved unplanned pregnancies successful through childhood, Church, and illness. Some about military injuries.

Writing was the most basic for a nonfiction bestselling book I can remember reading, seemingly at an elementary level which could make this fine for children to read, they may like it more than adults.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mom gave me this book for Mother’s Day. Since I like reading nonfiction, it was a quick and enjoyable read.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book of essays all about mothers! It’s a commonality we all share, and we all have a story. Some good, some not so good.
I can’t begin to count the number of times I’ve said, “I need to run this by my mom…“. I’m so fortunate I’m still able to do that!

[meghan wesolowski · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not resonate with me at all. Mostly stories of mothers who had struggles, but nannies and plenty of money and good fortune to help them through. Children who were seemingly healthy and well adjusted. That's not my reality. The only one that I felt connected to was the mother with a son with PTSD after returning from the military.
Being a mother to a child with struggles that you can't fix for them, that's my reality.

[Erica Terhune · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh, some of the stories were such eye rolls. While others I truly enjoyed. But there were more stories that I didn’t believe then the ones that were touching.

[Mardell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It is refreshing and inspiring. My husband read about this book and ordered it for a gift. I picked it up and started reading it and truly felt inspired. Heartfelt stories about journeys women faced as mothers in our contemporary world. Hats off to these inspiring women whose journeys were very different than each other. It felt like they were here telling their stories, as only a mother can. Although I finished it quickly, this book can easily be read by reading each woman's story. It is uplifting and I heartily recommend it.

[Morgan Sterbinsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I randomly stumbled on this book while trying to find a book on my library’s ebook app & I’m really glad that I did. I have a hard time reading nonfiction books but this one was super quick and easy to pick up while nursing/being nap trapped and even brought me to tears a couple times. As a new mom this book had a lot of great lessons about faith, relationships with my own mom, the different seasons to come, living in fear, & raising kids to be able to be independent. I wish I was able to share all the passages I highlighted!

[Maryann Kress · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book—wonderful inspiring Mom stories written by Dr. Nicole Saphire about some of my favorite & highly respected anchor moms on Fox News to include Dr. Saphire & beyond. This unique collection of mother’s love from women trying to balance careers & motherhood touched my heart with their profound stories, all connected by the love, sacrifice, & bond of mother & child. Each story is unique—I laughed & cried, & I so enjoyed learning about the challenging pathways they took to becoming wonderful moms, still be happy, & have successful careers. I highly recommend!

[Angelica Fotos · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book showcases the lives of some incredible women who have shared the joys and challenges of motherhood today. As the author states, all women can learn from the struggles and triumphs of others. As a retired working mom, I could relate to many of these fine women. The lesson all of them learned is there is no "science" to motherhood--all of us are imperfect humans. But each mother tries her best to show her children that she loves them and wants the best for them throughout their lives!

[Chloe (Always Booked) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I really liked this collection of stories of motherhood. I didn't realize it was a Fox news collab but I still really enjoyed it, despite not being a Fox News fan. I skipped the story about a mother who lost her child. My other complaint is that a lot of this is about people mothering through health issues and thats a little triggering for me. Overall this was sweet. Probably not one I'll revisit much but good enough to read!

[Lexi F · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good stories. Just waaaaayyyy too long. It couldn’t have been cut in half easily. It would have been more interesting for me if it was more “most important things I have learned sprinkled with stories” rather than “here’s my whole life story”. I’m sure it has to do with each person writing their own story and every person has different levels of writing capabilities.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring, encouraging, and uplifting. This is a compilation of essays. The authors are somewhat intimidating, because most have really exciting (even famous) careers and names. However, the essays themselves are inspiring. This is an enjoyable and clean read with a strong emphasis on faith (which is encouraging in and of itself).

[Maria Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unmatched and unwavering, mothers are the embodiment of selfless, pure, and unconditional love. But so often, the sacrifices and triumphs of motherhood go unrecognized. Now, in Love, Mom, Fox News medical contributor and mom of three, Dr. Nicole Saphier, shines a light on the power of a mother's love, with inspiring first-person stories from moms in the Fox News family.

[Misty Laird · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much as I love a great story of successful moms I guess I went into this thinking it was going to be stories of struggle and actual balance between career and motherhood. It’s actually a lot of very privileged women who used Nannie’s and had incredible amounts of family support to achieve their goals. I am happy for moms who have that but most of us don’t so it was very hard to relate.

[Tiffany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm divided on how to rate this. Somewhere between 2 and 2.5 stars. While I enjoyed some of the womens stories, I feel as though many were more about the women's careers and not their full experiences with motherhood.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely collection of bits about moms. Very enjoyable.

[Kelly O · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy read with short stories. Almost brought me to tears a couple times. Great lessons to learn from other working moms on challenges and triumphs.

[Marie Jansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good on the momma heart 💕 Mother’s are so damn strong, these stories are inspiring to say the least. Great read!

[Chelsey Haughey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading all of these stories from strong women who come from all diverse backgrounds! Being a mother is beautiful and hard and reading these stories makes you feel less alone!

[Jessica Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book. Well put together. Such amazing women doing amazing things both inside and outside the home. Very inspirational stories that had me laughing and crying.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting stories from different mom’s perspectives.

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is totally unnecessary and I got nothing from it. Worse is that I read it by accident.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought I was reading a different book with the same title. Was going to stop once I realized but I hate DNF’ing. 🫣

[Samantha Gizzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! I could see how some of the stories may contain topics that are difficult to read about. It was just nice to see the spotlight shine on strong and inspirational moms!

[Shruti Choudhury · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don’t know why I bothered. No diversity in the bench of contributors and the stories. While the stories maybe heartfelt and genuine it should have been curated differently. The prose style is simplistic and magazine like. Extremely average red belt Karen-ish book. I would give it a miss.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. I really tried listening to these stories and glean some kind of story or connection with these moms, but the voice acting on top of terrible content within the stories just didn’t keep my attention. Too much privilege that went unrecognized, and unrelatable story lines… I just couldn’t get through it.

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a sweet collection of stories to read during my maternity leave.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely Mother's Day gift form Carol Gray, I appreciated the sentiments of these moms, as told to Nicole Saphier, MD. Saphier is breast cancer radiologist at MSK Cancer Center in NYC, and medical contributor to FOX News. Interviews were with colleagues, patients, friends, and viewers. Really good book.

Overall message-indeed, "Moms cannot do it all, and it's aok-It takes a village to raise our families, today." "Be present" (DC remember: "When ya tie your shoe, tie your shoe. Focus.")

We appreciate our own moms so much more, after we have stood in "her" shoes with our own children. (Marion Champlain on page 126 - "...I saw life from her (mom's) perspective." Recognizing that our moms had dreams, too. "Don't wait for things to happen; make them happen" (page 132, Marion Champlain).

-Look to the Blessed Mother, her example, her experiences with Jesus ass a child, a teen, a "young adult.""

-Remember Isaiah 41:10 "I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

"In the midst of pain, it's hard for us to see that all these little beautiful moments and signs in our lives are not just a coincidence. They are threaded together in a pattern, and when you look back on it, you realize God was always there." Annette Hill
-Additionally, I appreciate how Hill came to understand what military service experience "did" to her son's mental health and psyche. There are 22 Veteran suicides a day; Ruck-22, MaMa Duce (page 162).
-And, ***When saying "I love you," the last word said is "you." I want to simply say, "Love," so that the last thing I say to you is "Love."

"Talk about everything.
Take too many pictures.
Keep all the letters.
Be grateful for every single moment.
And no matter what, say 'Love'" (page 173).

Remember this: "there will always be someone worse off than yourself; all we can do is make the most of our stories, as we never know what the next chapter will bring" (page 191).

"I can't go back now, but if I were a young mom raising kids today, I would keep them away from smartphones, iPads, and all electronics for as many years as I possibly could....The minute we give them access, we create a dangerous connection between that machine and their little brain" (page 201).