YOU WANT TO AVOID FEELING:

INSTEAD YOU WANT TO:

Hi, I’m Melissa! Wife, mama, postpartum doula, women’s circle facilitator, health coach and yoga, pilates, and baby massage instructor.

I invested a lot of time and money into my pregnancy and birth – I read all the books, went to all the classes, hired a birth doula, wrote a birth plan and was blessed to have a beautiful drug- free water birth. But this wasn’t a guarantee for a blissful postpartum. To be honest, I gave life post baby very little thought. I assumed my life would return to normal with a cute baby by my side.

When I fell pregnant, I’d been teaching pre and postnatal yoga and pilates classes for 15 years and trained as a Birth Doula. I’d helped thousands of women prepare for labour and birth and to regain their “pre- baby body”.

Despite this, the challenges of the postpartum period took me by surprise.

When I became a mama, I owned a yoga and pilates studio in Sydney, managed 10 instructors, a Studio Manager and a Virtual Assistant. Did I mention I was also studying to be a Health Coach?

As any small business owner will tell you, it’s difficult to switch off from your other “baby”.

Instead of sleeping when my baby slept, I worked on my computer usually with him latched onto my breast or asleep on my chest. And at 6 weeks postpartum, I returned to teaching.

When my husband returned to work and the visitors disappeared, I felt incredibly lonely.

My friends had children when they were much younger, my family didn’t live close by and I didn’t connect with my mother’s group.

Pre- baby, I prided myself on being organised, motivated and creative but this was no longer my reality. I was overwhelmed, stressed, anxious and utterly exhausted. But as an independent, strong and capable woman, I wouldn’t ask for help.

Instead, I sought solace in meditation, yoga nidra and yoga. But these were only a band- aid solution.

I had a burning desire to slow down. I was barely keeping my head above water and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep paddling.

I couldn’t carry the mental load of motherhood AND the studio any longer. Something had to give.

Within months I’d sold my studio, said goodbye to Sydney and moved to a small town on the NSW South Coast. I envisioned spending my days making handmade soaps, sipping hot tea and reading copious amounts of books.

Instead, I entertained my toddler by day and burnt the midnight oil trying to build a new business whilst studying to become a Postpartum Doula. I was living my Sydney life with different scenery.

After reading The Postnatal Depletion Cure by Dr Oscar Serrallach, I realised that the exhaustion and mental fog 2 years post birth could be what he described as “Postnatal Depletion”.

I went the GP and got all the recommended tests in Dr Serrallach's book but told I was “perfectly healthy”.

But my intuition guided me to find a Naturopath who did further testing confirming severe postnatal depletion, adrenal fatigue and an underactive thyroid.

Finally, an answer as to why I was feeling so exhausted and hope of a recovery.

My long road to repletion involved a nutrient dense, gluten free diet, vitamin and mineral supplements, early to bed, yin yoga, yoga nidra and meditation.

And most importantly, letting go of the need to do it all and taking time to soak up this beautiful part of the word we now call home.

My rough transition into motherhood has inspired me to make it my mission is to help pregnant women like YOU who want to avoid feeling physically and emotionally exhausted and instead want to feel deeply rested, relaxed and nourished in your transition to mamahood for long term health and vitality.