It is not unusual for many mums (and their partners) to feel concerned about how they will hold up physically and emotionally during pregnancy, birth and beyond.
With stresses of recent fires, the COVID-19 pandemic and social justice issues, these fears have been amplified.
Anna Cusack, a Hunter-based Postpartum Doula and Accredited Exercise Physiologist, has launched a new business focusing on support for newborn mothers, particularly in these turbulent times.
“It takes a village to raise a child, but a village to raise a mother too, and many mums are finding themselves isolated from the support network they need to cope,” Anna said.
“Partners too, may be at a loss with how they can help.”
Prior to the arrival of her first baby, Anna read widely about postpartum and became fascinated by the rituals and traditions cultures the world-over use to honour and assist mums to feel restored and rejuvenated in the newborn period.
“In western cultures, all too often mums receive a hamper of cute baby clothes from workmates, a few texts and not much else…our maternity leave is symbolic of severance from our past life,” she said.
She aims to guide women into the next phase of their multidimensional womanhood as they become a mother, or expand their family with subsequent children, without losing connection with their own needs.
Anna has developed a Six Steps to a Peaceful Postpartum e-guide, which is available free of charge on her website.
These six steps involve understanding the brain chemistry of pregnancy and postpartum, building a modern day village, creating a vision for your ideal postpartum period, and making it happen.
“During pregnancy, our brains clear out old files from our mental filing cabinet to make space for new skills to develop, particularly in relation to reading body language of babies who are non-verbal communicators,” Anna said.
“When we understand that baby brain is actually real and has a purpose, we don’t feel so insane,” she says.
Dads can benefit from a science lesson too.
“The male brain doesn’t start rewiring for parenthood until they smell the head of their newborn, so get that baby hat off and start cuddling!” Anna said.
“For both partners, it is time spent with the baby that gets your bonding hormones flowing, so planning your parental leave and postpartum plan is a great investment in your family’s future.”
In addition to her e-guide and planning services, Anna offers hands-on, in-home support for local families throughout the first six to twelve weeks of their baby’s life, a period known as the fourth trimester.
Emma, mum of two, is an advocate, saying that motherhood can be tricky and services like Anna’s can provide the support needed to make things easier.
“Motherhood can be hard and isolating, even without a pandemic,” Emma said.
“Anna’s encouragement and support to honour my own physical and emotional needs has been so valuable, which in turn makes me feel better able to look after my babies.”
Anna combines traditional mother-care (think nourishing meals cooked fresh in your home, nurturing touch, breastfeeding support, and a listening ear) with specialised women’s health exercise physiology services, remote support, retreats and more.
You can view more details about Anna’s services on her website.
IMAGE | Anna Cusack, opens up support to new families facing COVID-19 with a newborn.