Over the past fifteen years of working with pregnant women, I noticed a pattern emerging. The expectant mothers that I cared for at my pregnancy spa and in my yoga classes were doing everything right with regards to caring for themselves during their pregnancies and planning every meticulous detail of their births yet were often left shocked, overwhelmed, and exhausted by the first few weeks postpartum with their new babies. Second-time mothers came to me with stories of feeling lonely, isolated, disappointed and even traumatised by their first postpartum.
In my own experience I was totally blind-sided by the arrival of my beautiful son nineteen years ago. After a long protracted labour I felt completely unprepared to care for this little person who depended on me for his every need. Although I had support around me (I literally lived in a village!) I was under the impression that I was meant to do it all by myself and wondered why I wasn’t enjoying those first few weeks of motherhood as much as everyone told me I should be. “You have a beautiful baby, you must be so happy!” Instead I often felt exhausted, inept and overwhelmed.
Following 15 years of owning the Bella Mama Spa & Wellness Centre based in Auckland, NZ, I decided to focus my energies on my work as a maternal postpartum care specialist and infant sleep educator. I knew that it was vitally important to nurture my pregnant clients not just throughout their pregnancies but into the ‘Sacred Window’ of the postpartum weeks so that they would receive just as much loving care and attention as they were giving their newborn babes. I am passionate and committed to educating both the families that I work with and society as a whole as to the importance of this special window of time that can affect mothers and families so profoundly. Hence the Slow Postpartum movement was born.
Are you worried that you don’t have enough support in the weeks and months following the birth of your baby? Are you concerned about sleep deprivation, physical recovery, exhaustion, breastfeeding, relationship issues or family dynamics? If so, I would love to support you.
I am currently taking a limited number of international bookings for in-home maternal postpartum support for 2020 and 2021. I would love to hear from you to discuss how I might best able to support you.
My role as a maternal postpartum care specialist is to ‘mother the mother’ nurturing and supporting you and your family with a range of nourishing traditions including:
- Pregnancy support — individually-tailored support throughout your pregnancy including advice around nutrition, exercise, relaxation and more.
- Birth and postpartum planning advice – helping you to plan a positive and empowering birthing experience and a fulfilling postpartum plan.
- Specialist pregnancy massage with aromatic oils — deep relaxation during your pregnancy benefits you and your baby as well as easing out pregnancy aches and pains allowing you to enjoy this special time of your life.
- Building your village and gathering your tribe — supporting you to create your new baby support network.
- Practical and emotional postpartum support and care — individually-tailored support throughout the postpartum period can include daily visits or live-in care to help you navigate the first few weeks and months with your new baby.
- Specialist Postpartum massage and bodywork — helping you heal and ease discomforts after giving birth as well as rehabilitate core muscles.
- Nourishing home cooked food & nutritional advice — delicious home cooked meals for you and your family cooked to postpartum guidelines if requested. Information on optimal postpartum nutrition, meal planning and recipes.
- Postpartum belly binding – Traditional belly binding helps and supports postpartum recovery by providing postural support, abdominal wall healing, pelvic support and lower back support. Plus it feels great!
- Infant Sleep Education – As a fully trained ‘infant sleep educator’ I will help you understand what is normal infant sleep behaviours and how you can work with and nurture your baby’s neurological development whilst ensuring that you and your baby get the rest that you all need. I work only with gentle, evidence based information that supports and nourishes your baby’s brain.
- Mum & Baby Yoga — practising postpartum yoga can help to ease out baby care aches, strengthen your pelvic floor and abdominal muscles, ease aches, increase vitality and relieve fatigue. Jojo has been teaching yoga for 20 years and specialises in working with pregnant and new mothers.
- Mindfulness & deep relaxation practices — The practice of mindfulness has so many benefits for new parents. I will instruct you and guide you as to how to use breathwork, mindfulness, meditation, self-massage, affirmations, visualisation, progressive muscle relaxation and yoga nidra.
- Breastfeeding & bottle feeding support — teaching you practices you can incorporate into your life and routine to encourage an abundant milk supply and pain-free breastfeeding as well as pumping and bottle feeding strategies if needed.
- Herbal & aromatic remedies — including teas, tinctures and aromatherapy products for pregnancy, postpartum & lactation support.
- Family Dynamics & Visitors – helping you to navigate and negotiate your family dynamics including visitors, complex relationships, partnerships and more.
- Mother Honouring Ceremonies – acknowledging and celebrating your transition into motherhood with ritual & celebration.
Complimentary Clarity Session
I offer my services in-person to a small and select group of families around the world. These boutique packages may include daily visits or live-in care dependant on your family’s needs. To find out more, I invite you and your partner to book a complimentary 30-minute clarity session (phone or Skype/Zoom) to discuss your postpartum goals and challenges and to see if we may be the right fit to work together to ensure that your postpartum weeks are a time of peace, joy and satisfaction.
“We were very blessed to have Jojo supporting our family in the postpartum period. I think it was the best investment we could’ve made to ensure the best start for us as new parents. Jojo helped us prepare in late pregnancy and offered so much support and wisdom during the fourth trimester. Her massages were so healing and amazing, and I really looked forward to her visits. But what I didn’t realise when we hired her was how much expertise and knowledge Jojo has in so many areas eg aromatherapy, baby massage, breastfeeding etc She always knew what to say to help us along and remain confident on our parenting journey. I strongly recommend Jojo if you want some loving non-judgmental support in the postpartum period. Every woman should have a Jojo!” Tash, Jeremy and baby Scarlett.
To discuss how I may be able to support you and your family with personalised postpartum care and support or for a quote, please drop me a line.
Do you want the first weeks of your postpartum to be a time of peace and joy, rather than exhaustion and overwhelm?
Then Download The Six Secrets to a Slow Postpartum