No matter how a mama chooses to nourish her baby, her love knows no bounds. No two journeys ever look the same, nor is there a singular or ‘perfect’ pathway to this tender and challenging devotion, yet all caring figures embody the same distinguishing qualities; strength, love, courage and wisdom. I strongly believe, the ability to flourish, learn and grow as a breastfeeding mama, significantly depends on how nurtured, safe and supported she feels within her environment. So much so, by tapping into what enhances her senses and honouring her vulnerabilities, we as a collective can nurture her innermost desire to prioritise this tender time and take gentle care of her most authentic self.
Mammae exists through the fractures of my personal journey into breastfeeding and early motherhood, sharing in its many early adversities. I am deeply committed to sparing new and seasoned mothers from enduring the countless challenges that I faced; feeling unsupported on my triple feeding journey.
Across the world, mothers are urged to breastfeed, yet in western society, many postpartum mothers find it increasingly difficult and not what they had expected. You would be hard-pressed to find a mother whose breastfeeding experience or that of someone they know, hasn’t been touched with adversity in some way. Personally, I have always held a close vision that breastfeeding would be a “natural” instinctive skill, one that my baby and I would simply breeze through with unparalleled joy and ease. Oh, how I was quickly mistaken!
Throughout my own journey, I found the intensity and totality of the breastfeeding relationship to be a truly monumental metamorphosis. It requires a more whole-body investment than you may likely ever share with anyone else in your life. Yes, breastfeeding is biologically normal. However, that doesn’t mean it is straightforward or a “one size fits all” experience.
Within the very early days, I had experienced a complexity of breastfeeding adversities; oversupply, low supply, cracked, blistered and bleeding nipples, nipple vasospasm, nipple thrush, engorgement, recurring mastitis, anatomical challenges (flat nipples) and painful blocked ducts. Merely the thought of latching my baby again would put me to tears. This raw and vulnerable reality was not what I had envisioned for myself and my baby, I felt completely inadequate and misguided.
Throughout this enduring commitment, I was compelled to positively channel my personal experience and better understand why such a wide community of breastfeeding mothers feel silenced and unsupported, suffering emotionally, mentally and physically throughout this profound emersion from maiden to mother. Fostering a close community has long been a passion of mine. So much strength and wisdom come from the support of our village. Mammae is more than just a brand and a collection of products, it’s a motherhood.
Leaning upon my village in the darkest hours of my newborn haze as a postpartum woman proved invaluable. In reflection, I realise how infinitely more difficult it would have been to endure this early postpartum battle without having been so open about sharing my experience, asking for help and being open to receiving.
As they say, “a problem shared is a problem halved." The shared experience of breastfeeding is one so unique in its power to forge such close bonds and awareness. We are a thread within a maternal bond and we are not intended to do this season alone.
Having emerged from the other side, I realise that I have never before devoted myself to something so entirely. I’d completely given myself to the act of breastfeeding in a way that I never had before. Nothing was more important to me than nursing my firstborn daughter. Procrastination simply didn't exist. Nothing was put before it and no matter the wounded condition that I was in, I positively shifted my perspective and channelled this energy, just as I did through the powerful surges of my labour. I deeply persevered and I honoured my body's innate maternal wisdom and intelligence. I called upon my inner and external resources and welcomed the discomfort of introspection. I am strong and I am a fighter. These self-realisations, of course, didn’t come easily, yet such moments of profound insight rarely do.
Alongside the support from my community, reimagining the act of breastfeeding through a more self-compassionate and physiological lens soon became part of my greatest lifeline. As a depleted postpartum woman navigating one of the most difficult challenges of my life, I was also trying to break away from my pre-baby conditions, my whole identity really; one that set the pace as an overachieving, “successful” and independent woman to this new and unfamiliar version of myself. Here I was, utterly sleep-deprived, wounded and defeated, spending countless hours embedded in my nursing chair, experiencing agonising breast pain, crippling anxiety, and whole-body depletion. The system and society never truly prepared me for this time.
8 weeks in and there was a moment of breakthrough - I was intuitively called to go within and channel what this resistance was trying to tell me. I was guided to invite nature’s healing principles back into my daily breastfeeding and postpartum care (just as I did throughout pregnancy and birth) and share this ritual-inspired space with a renewed approach; recalibrating my perspective and the powerful words whispered to myself. I allowed my body to gently emerge into a new sense of self and belonging as a capable, empowered and intuitive lead mother; reminding myself daily that “I am the divine source of life, love and abundance and I am never alone on this journey.”
The more I researched and channelled how mindful practices, natural ingredients, energetics, hormones and our cells function, the more compelled I was to create a breastfeeding collection that was harmonious for women, children and the environment - setting a new holistic standard in the care for breastfeeding mothers.
By encouraging mothers to unveil the emotional, mental and energetic cause of so many breastfeeding adversities, I set about enlisting a team of top green scientists, naturopaths, lymphatic, Chinese and Ayurvedic practitioners, lactation consultants, herbalists and aromatherapists to skilfully craft a specialised brief of lactation & mother centred-care wellness formulations.
I invite you to relish in the ‘perfectly imperfect’ world of motherhood, because it’s all about living and learning mama. Surrender yourself without any expectation of whatever this season throws at you and know that you’re never alone to weather the storm.
Supporting, honouring and empowering more women to breastfeed within a healthy environment is a collective responsibility and I’m making it mine. It is my greatest ambition through Mammae to ensure that all mothers have the support, sensory and self-soothing resources to draw upon, awakening joy, abundance, ease, and closeness shared between baby and bosom.
Remember, you have the natural capability and resources to create an environment for your mind, body and baby to thrive. We are not designed to do it alone. Sometimes we need a village of support, specialised products, or learn how to simply ask for help.
It is my hope that Mammae reflects and inspires a set of unwavering heart-centred values that my daughter Poppy can be proud to carry into the future generation. Thank you for being here and entrusting Mammae to support you throughout birth, pregnancy, breastfeeding and beyond.