Maternal Mental Health Week

Today marks the beginning of Maternal Mental Health Week, a crucial time to raise awareness and establish resources for mothers and women on the path to motherhood. Remember, there is no holistic health without mental health! By enhancing awareness, we can collectively aim to foster social change, ultimately enhancing the quality of care for women navigating various Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMADs) and eradicating the stigma surrounding maternal mental health issues.

This article is not solely directed at mothers but everyone connected to a mother, emphasizing the importance of community support for new parents. We need to stop yelling, “Self Care!” at new parents. What they really they need is the support of their community to engage in honest conversations about mental well-being by regularly checking in on them. If you know someone who is struggling with PMADs, Postpartum Support International is a great place to start in the journey to finding group support. They can also call the HelpLine at 1.800.944.4773.

Drawing from my background as a yoga teacher and reiki practitioner, I have honed tools to assist clients grappling with feelings of overwhelm, anxiety, depression, or exhaustion, guiding them to rediscover balance and stability. Crafting guided meditations stands as a cornerstone of my practice, aimed at soothing the nervous system and fostering better regulation within the limbic system. Techniques such as mantra recitation, Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) tapping, grounding exercises, visualization, and breathwork constitute some of the strategies I employ.

Integrating these tools into my role as a birth doula has empowered me to better support parents and mothers. Rather than prescribing more self-care practices, I advocate for a community-driven approach, emphasizing the importance of friends and family checking in on new parents regularly. Establishing support systems, like sharing responsibilities such as walking the dog or preparing meals, can significantly alleviate the mental, emotional, and physical burdens new parents face, allowing them the space to care for themselves and their baby compassionately.

For the mothers, parents and community members out there who need better tools, you can start with this comprehensive list of external and internal resources new parents can tap into when feeling drained. External resources encompass external sources of calm, support, strength, and capability, such as cultivating a support network, engaging in physical activity, or developing healthy lifestyle habits. On the other hand, internal resources provide relaxation, pleasure, support, strength, and safety, suggesting practices like self-care routines, meditation, and grounding exercises to foster resilience from within.

External Resources:

Internal Resources:

Encouraging my clients to maintain a reference list of these resources enables swift access to self-care strategies during challenging moments. Whether it involves seeking emotional support or carving out brief periods for personal rejuvenation, having a predefined plan in place can be invaluable for navigating tough times effectively.

An invaluable resource I recommend is alternate nostril breathing, a breathwork technique renowned for balancing the right and left hemispheres of the brain and the body’s energies. This practice proves instrumental in managing overwhelm, anxiety, and stress, guiding individuals back to a centered state. Extensive research underscores the positive impact of alternate nostril breathing on various aspects of well-being, from cognitive functioning and pain management to respiratory and circulatory health.

To further explore this technique, you can practice along with me here: