One highlight in my career is meeting strong women who have a vision to help other women! I met Aviva and Liz at the Meet the Doula Event hosted by Ottawa Doula Services, Aviva was holding her little baby girl (just 4 weeks old) and I was immediately smitten by her ability to mother and get her materials together for the event. Shortly after, I couldn't resist and asked to hold her baby girl and help her settle ~ moms helping moms!
Being new to the Ottawa community, it was lovely to attend an event and meet other women who share the same passion for babies and families. I asked the the lovely trio at Mom Friends to give my readers an introduction to their postpartum product. With an added bonus to share some of their personal advice and how they value the moments of being around their own children! Below is our chat :)
All photos by Aviva from Mom Friends
Find Mom Friends Online: momfriends.ca
Thank you ladies! xo
Introduction: Tell us a bit about yourself!
We are Aviva, Lisa and Liz in Ottawa, Ontario. We know a lot of people making babies, and have made a few ourselves. We have noticed from these experiences-especially for first-timers-that there is a lack of knowledge and access to postpartum care products that support healthy bodies and minds. There seems to be a bit of an unspoken stigma about what post-birth is like for mom. We want to fix that by increasing how women and their loved ones share information, peer support and postpartum resources. Thanks to the input of hundreds of moms we have conceived (see what we did there?) practical, intimate and thoughtful postpartum care kits to help moms and their loved ones during those special first days.
How did your business venture come about?
We realized that we knew very little ourselves about postpartum care. So we started gifting postpartum care kits to our friends at their baby showers. When we were putting them together we found that the items were often hard to find and the quantities often weren't quite right for products used during the first week after giving birth (e.g. adult diapers). So really the idea came from our own struggle as new moms and friends of new moms!
Why did you decide to cater your products towards postpartum moms?
Postpartum rest and recovery is primarily for the mom to figure out, but she can't do it alone. By developing the postpartum care kits as the perfect baby shower gift we are hoping that awareness around postpartum support grows and it starts a conversation between moms and all of their supports be they partners, family or close friends.
Which is your favourite postpartum item? and why?!
Tough question! We can only pick one!? Well for me (Aviva) I would have to go with the reusable organic bamboo nursing pads. Many women experience leaking, engorgement and sore nipples after giving birth and the bamboo material in the pads we have sourced is the softest and most absorbent there is! We were especially excited to be able to source them locally for our kits as they are hand-sewn by FWrap :)
Let's get Personal ...
If you have any advise to give a fellow mom, what would it be?
Don't Google! Just kidding.... but also not.... I would say trust your instinct. Whether you are a first time mom or not, you may doubt yourself from time to time. But remember that every baby is different so what works for some babies may not necessarily work for yours. As much as other moms may loooooove giving unsolicited advice, you can take it or leave it and remember at the end of the day, it's your call (your partner's too!)
Also, while you may want to do everything for your baby, you must take care of yourself first. I know it's hard as you just had a baby so it's an intense time but looking after yourself is just as important. Our philosophy is that often healthy baby isn't possible without healthy mom too. Postpartum is a time of emotional and physical healing in a lot of ways which is why it's so important to rest and relax. Don't refrain from getting help from your loved ones!
If there was one thing you wished to remember about your children today, what would it be? and why?!
So much to remember and they do grow up so fast. For Lisa the memory she always wants to relive is the moment her son was born and his warm wet oily body was placed on her which she says is the best feeling in the world. It's hard to come up with something else as I totally agree that is a moment I always want to remember because it shows that the pregnancy, labour, delivery and postpartum is totally all worth it! But every day for me it's their smiles which warm my heart. In my mind a smile from your child is their way of saying thank you for being an awesome mom (even when I don't always think I am uh oh... cue tears!)
