If I try to remember what I was doing two weeks after having a baby, it was probably the same thing I was doing one day after having a baby: recovering. Trapped in my own hormonal cesspool of worry, anxiety, and judgment, I have to be honest: aside from providing milk to my daughter, I don't know that I was capable of much else. And I was very fortunate in that I was on maternity leave [1], so no one was expecting me to do much else other than heal and care for my new baby.

Just two weeks postpartum, comedian and new mom Amy Schumer [2] has returned to work. In an Instagram post she shared last night, Amy appears on stage with a mic in her hand and the caption reads "Pic from tonight by @hewasfunny I'm back!" Reactions were a mixed bag, as you can imagine. Many fans were supportive, and others criticized her, leaving Amy to respond, "I've always wanted to be mom shamed."

I recognise that I was very lucky to have the freedom to recover — emotionally and physically — at a reasonable pace. But everyone's postpartum experience is different. Some women have to return to work right away and don't have the luxury to rest the way their body truly needs; others, while they may have a maternity leave in place, have other children at home to take care of, so the demand is unending.

It's not clear why Amy returned to the stage. Maybe she was under contract, maybe she was craving some semblance of normalcy and just wanted to get out of the house for a bit. Rather than speculate why or highlight the obvious — she's a successful woman who perhaps chooses when to return to work — let's applaud her. She delivered a baby. That sh*t's not easy. And after having a miserable pregnancy riddled with round-the-clock nausea [3], she's back to work, doing what she does best: making us laugh.