Joy is a word we associate with becoming a parent. But there can be a strange iffiness about sharing the good stuff

• Making sense of it is a column about spirituality and how it can be used to navigate everyday life

Everyone knows that parenthood – especially motherhood – is a minefield from the get-go. You’re sleep-deprived, you’re hormonal, you’re riding some serious emotional highs and lows, and embarking on probably the highest-stakes venture of your life.

Everyone has their opinions, and pretty soon you do too. You urgently need advice, and there’s no shortage of it. Sure, lots of this advice is not only dogmatic but contradictory, and the algorithm floats all the most guilt-inducing content to the top. There’s little consensus (unless it’s that you’re definitely not doing enough tummy time).