By Brodie Mitchell
I have found after the birth of my babies I seem to become more inspired, more creative, and full of new ideas. I do not know if it is the countless hours of sitting breastfeeding that gives me the time, or the empowerment of birth that builds my confidence to create, but after the birth of my second son, whilst relishing in my own ‘Golden Month,’ I conceived the idea of a postpartum care box.
As an acupuncturist and mother liaising with other mums regularly, I realised there was a big emphasis on the new baby but not the care and support for the new mum. I have however seen a nice shift in this during recent times. In Chinese Medicine and many traditional cultures, there is a great knowledge of the importance of postpartum care, not only for the mother’s long-term health but also her ability to care for her baby, family, and her role in the community at large. In our society, I felt mothers were feeling guilty for resting, putting on a front to have visitors over in those early days, and then caring for them instead of receiving care as needed. Making human life and giving birth is incredible and needs to be given the utmost respect to the mother’s body in order to recover and allow her to connect and build her bond with the baby.
I wanted to create a little tool kit for the mother: an easy one-stop box with the essentials so she could feel supported, loved, and cared for during her postpartum, ‘The Golden Month’ following birth. I wanted this box to be suitable for all mums, not just the avid Chinese Medicine client or alternative mum but all mums. A gift box that I could give clients, that could be given at baby showers, bought for the mother-to-be or, as I have found often, by the mother when she is having a second or third child and now knows and realises the need for this self-care during postpartum. Before children, I always gave gifts for the baby but all a baby really needs is a well mum to care for them. Using my knowledge as an acupuncturist and mother, I thought of the most important items I needed, my essentials and what made life easier in those early days.
