Elizabeth Catherine Monroe is a passionate advocate for supporting mothers through the emotional and identity shifts that come with early motherhood. Inspired by her own personal journey into matrescence, Catherine created her work to help women move out of overwhelm and into a more grounded, connected experience of motherhood. As a single mother and coach, she combines lived experience with ongoing training and child-centred support, offering mothers a compassionate space to rebuild confidence, trust themselves and feel less alone in the realities of parenting. Through her work and growing community, she is on a mission to help mothers experience a calmer, more present and deeply connected motherhood. Here, she talks to The Natural Parent Magazine about the inspiration behind her work, her biggest breakthrough, and the challenges she has overcome along the way.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
I was inspired by my own journey into motherhood. I went into it quite naively in many ways. I didn’t read the books or attend lots of classes. I focused on looking after myself and my body, staying in my own little bubble. I prepared for birth through hypnobirthing, but I never once thought I would need preparing for what came after.
I assumed motherhood would look like it does in the films: happiness, ease, that natural maternal instinct kicking in. I knew I would be tired and that sleep would be disrupted, but what shocked me most was the emotional rollercoaster that followed. The constant guilt. The mental load. The inability to make even the smallest decision without checking Google three times just to be sure I wasn’t doing it wrong.
I felt completely lost and disconnected. There was a deep sense of grief for my freedom and time I took for granted pre-motherhood, alongside the very real weight of being fully responsible for another human being. My little baby, I loved her more than I could even fathom. Yet, the anxiety was soul-crushing at times. Some days I struggled to leave the house, terrified of being judged or of someone thinking I was a bad mum.
During pregnancy, I truly believed I would sail through motherhood. I imagined baby classes, mum friends, playdates, shared experiences. The reality was very different. I didn’t have a single mum friend, or anyone I felt safe enough to confide in. I kept everything to myself, convinced that if I spoke out, it would mean I was failing.
Over time, something shifted. My confidence began to grow, often in the quietest moments: tiny hands gripping mine, contact naps, the everyday connection building between us. Little by little, I trusted myself more. My daughter became my anchor and my purpose. Being the best mum I could be for her mattered more than anything else.
As I became certified, I felt pulled in two directions: a deep desire to support children and an equally strong pull to support mothers. I kept thinking back to those early postpartum days, when I felt overwhelmed, frightened and completely out of my depth. I knew, with certainty, that I never wanted another mother to feel the way I did.
Motherhood is not just about raising a child; it is also a woman’s transition into becoming a mother. This process, known as matrescence, is still so misunderstood and under-spoken about. I truly believe it should be part of mandatory preparation for first-time mums. When you are crying because your baby won’t settle, when your mind feels foggy, when you no longer recognise yourself, that is not failure. It is your brain and nervous system rewiring to care, protect and attune to your baby.
This understanding became the foundation of my work and the birth of The Mother Coach. My mission is to support mothers out of overwhelm so their motherhood can feel calm, steady and grounded. So they can be fully present, connected and immersed in their motherhood journey without being weighed down by guilt, anxiety or constant self-doubt.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
I started out without really knowing what I was doing. I had a hundred ideas and a strong pull to help mothers, but no clear roadmap for how to bring it all together. The first step was slowing down and really understanding how I wanted to support mums in a way that aligned with my values and created meaningful, lasting change, not just surface-level mindset shifts.
In those early days, self-doubt was constant. I was juggling motherhood, part-time work and building a business in the quiet hours of the morning or late at night, entirely shaped around my daughter’s sleep at the time. It was messy and uncertain, but it was also deeply intentional.
I created an Instagram account and went through more handle changes than I’d like to admit, before eventually choosing to use my own name. That decision felt important. I realised I didn’t want to hide behind a brand or pretend to be something I wasn’t. The business is an extension of me. My experiences, my values, my honesty.
I began sharing my real life openly, without the fear of judgement I once carried. I understood how powerful it is for a mother in the postpartum trenches to see someone else’s motherhood that looks and feels like her own. That kind of honesty alone can be deeply validating and empowering.
Alongside this, I continued to train, learn, and grow, taking every insight and “aha” moment and applying it directly into my work and client support. I wanted the mothers I worked with to benefit not only from my lived experience, but from ongoing learning that truly supported their nervous systems, identities, and confidence.
I spent time building genuine connection, sharing tools, and offering support through content, often on the hardest days of motherhood. Then my first client came, and everything clicked. I saw, in real time, how powerful this work could be, and I knew I was exactly where I was meant to be.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
My biggest breakthrough came when I realised that mothers don’t need more to do. Most are already operating at full capacity, and piling on more tools, routines, or advice only adds to the overwhelm. I knew I needed to find a way to support mums deeply without asking more from them.
That’s when I began to understand that before anything else, there has to be regulation. Before mindset work, before strategies, before trying to change behaviour, there needs to be safety in the body. Alongside this came identity and self-trust. I wanted to move away from surface-level fixes that might look helpful on the outside, but never truly last because the root is left untouched.
This understanding first changed my own life. As a single mum, juggling the demands of motherhood, running a home, and building a business, I was exhausted. I was snappy, reactive, and often operating on empty. I hadn’t come this far just to become the kind of mum who was constantly at boiling point.
Through learning to regulate my own nervous system, everything began to soften. I became more present. I stopped snapping. I learned how to respond instead of react, even in the moments that once felt impossible. The sharp tone, the heavy silence that followed my words, slowly gave way to calm and connection.
That was the real breakthrough for me. I saw how regulation increases a mother’s capacity for everyday life. When a mum is living in survival mode, everything feels harder and more draining because her body is constantly searching for safety. When we support her nervous system, her window of tolerance expands. She has more space to breathe, to think, and to respond with intention.
I see the impact of this daily in my own life, in moments many mothers will recognise, like a toddler having a full meltdown in the middle of the shop or in a busy park surrounded by other parents. Where I once would have reacted with stress and overwhelm, I can now stay steady, meet her needs, and co-regulate us both back to calm. This is the approach I now share with the mothers I support, regulation as the foundation for motherhood and personal growth.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
For me, the key to balancing work and family is adaptability. I’ve let go of the idea of perfect balance, because I don’t believe it truly exists. Instead, I focus on working with my body and nervous system, not pushing against myself or forcing rigid routines that don’t fit the season we’re in.
Rather than following perfect daily structures, I tune into where we are week by week, sometimes even day by day. I intentionally create one-to-one days where I am predominantly in “mum mode”, allowing the business to tick along quietly in the background while I fill our connection cup. Then, when my daughter is in pre-school, I pour myself wholeheartedly into my work, creating, building, and focusing fully.
Family time always comes first. I don’t live to work, I work to live the life I’ve created with intention. I always wanted to be a present, fun mum, and I believe that’s something I’m achieving one moment at a time.
We recently went through a season of sleep changes with my daughter, which required another layer of adaptation. I used to wake early to have quiet time for myself and to set up systems for the day so I could be fully present once she woke. Now she rises earlier, so I’ve shifted and use the evenings after bedtime to prepare for the next day, organise, and stay on task. It’s not about sticking to one way of doing things, but about responding to what’s needed.
I’m very aware that I have a little pair of eyes watching me, learning from everything I do. That awareness keeps me intentional with my time, habits and routines. I want to show her that we can lead, build our dreams and become who we want to be, without running ourselves into the ground. Regulation and adaptability are at the heart of how I balance it all, and they continue to guide both my motherhood and my work.
