Meaghan O'Connell

Meaghan O’Connell is the Features editor at Romper. She works on personal essays, reported stories, profiles, and interviews about being, becoming, or wanting to be a parent (or not), and the aftermath of all of it. She helped edit Best C-Section Ever, which won an ASME award for best service package in 2023.

She is the author of And Now We Have Everything: On Motherhood Before I Was Ready, which the New York Times called, “honest, neurotic, [and] searingly funny.” A finalist for The Oregon Book Award, and named one of the best books of 2018 by NPR, Goodreads, Esquire, Powell's, and more, And Now We Have Everything has been translated into Portuguese, Hungarian, Turkish, and Greek.

Before working for Romper, O’Connell was a columnist for NYMag’s The Cut and a freelance writer for places like The New York Times and Longreads. She co-edited the Awl network’s personal finance website, The Billfold, was Kickstarter’s first copywriter, and employee #7 at Tumblr.

O’Connell, who graduated with a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame in 2007 with $39,000 in student loans, is a former nanny and a Brooklyn expat who now lives in Portland, OR, with her husband, two kids, terrible dog, and way too many books.

When not terminally online she can be found walking around with an iced coffee, taking pictures of plants.

Meaghan O'Connell

movies

by Meaghan O'Connell

What To Expect When You’re Esther Povitsky

The 36-year-old's new movie Drugstore June is the product of years of hard work. Having a baby, however, is brand new territory.

In Practice

by Meaghan O'Connell

How Pediatricians Think About Kids & Weight Now

“People need to feel empowered. They need to feel understood. They need to feel not judged.”

You're Doing So Good!

by Meaghan O'Connell

I Got To Watch My Husband’s Vasectomy & It Was The Best Day Of My Life

Our reproductive lives had come full circle.

Life

by Meaghan O'Connell

Review: The NooK Play Couch Turned Us Into A Fake Furniture Family

I have been converted by this Australian play couch that looks cute enough for our living room.

BODY LIBERATION

by Meaghan O'Connell

Fitness Influencers To Follow If The Word ‘Fitfluencer’ Makes You Want To Die

Because you don’t have to hate your body to enjoy moving it.

Angels

by Meaghan O'Connell

Deb Perelman Could Do This Forever

The woman behind Smitten Kitchen avoids dinner burnout by cooking not for her kids but for herself.

COOL MOM

by Meaghan O'Connell

It's A Beautiful Day In Jenny Slate’s Neighborhood

Jenny Slate, mother of Marcel the Shell, has given up performing her identity and doubled down on delighting you.

The Work of a Lifetime

by Meaghan O'Connell

How We Really Feel About Our C-Sections

There are many ways to have a Cesarean & so many ways to feel about your own.

Back Home

by Natalie Hailes, Ashley Abramson and Meaghan O'Connell

Make A Plan For Postpartum, Too

A birth plan is one thing, but planning for how you will get through those first few weeks at home might be even more important.

TV

by Meaghan O'Connell

Don’t Do Drugs On Your Kid’s iPad & More Parenting Lessons From ‘Succession’

Every family has its traditions...

Entertainment

by Meaghan O'Connell

'False Positive' Leans Into The Body Horror Of Pregnancy And Boy, Does It Work

An exclusive clip from Hulu Original False Positive starring Ilana Glazer, Justin Theroux, and Pierce Brosnan, and premieres on June 25th.

Life

by Meaghan O'Connell

The Books Our Favorite Writers Want For Mother's Day

Kaitlyn Greenidge, Jia Tolentino, Anna Sale & more what's on their TBR lists

Life

by Meaghan O'Connell

There's Still A Lot You Don't Know About Naomi Davis

The longtime blogger-turned-influencer on her new book, A Coat Of Yellow Paint

Our Pandemic Year

by Meaghan O'Connell

It Took A Year Of Dressing For Myself To Enjoy Being Seen

After a year of not being perceived, I finally know what I want to wear.

Life

by Meaghan O'Connell

Remote Kindergarten Made Me Rethink Everything

by Meaghan O'Connell

Working From Home With Shay Mitchell