It was during her own experience of the postpartum haze that Brooke was inspired to make a change to the expectations that society puts on new mums. Recognising the gap in postpartum support, and the need to honour slow postpartum, she took over For The Mama Collective in August 2023 and set out to make it her own, providing support, nourishment and healing for new mums. Their specialty gift hampers and filled with goodies to nourish and support pregnant and postpartum mamas. Here Brooke talks to The Natural Parent Magazine about the passion behind her business, her biggest breakthrough, the challenges she has overcome, and her hopes and dreams for the future.
What inspired you to set up your business?
I actually cannot take all the credit for that! The original creator of ‘For The Mama Collective‘ is a fellow mama Rani, who also lives on Gumbaynggirr Country. Her inspiration came after the birth of her first child in 2021 when the conception of ‘For The Mama’ began. After the birth of my own daughter Oaklee this year, I truly realised just how much of a gap in postpartum support and honouring slow postpartum there was. I officially took over the business in August 2023 and began the process of transforming it into my own tangible vision for new mamas.
During my own journey through the bliss of the postpartum haze, I was inspired, whilst also determined to change this ideology of society’s postpartum expectations.
New mamas need to be supported, nourished, held and healed. They do not need another swaddle for the baby, box of chocolates or bunch of flowers. We receive these ‘gifts’ with a grateful smile and a thank you to these well-meaning guests, whilst longing for someone to actually ask “What can I do that would help you right now?”.
Everyone around us is so excited to meet the baby and are readily available to hold them – but who holds the mama?
‘For The Mama’ focuses on providing new mothers with intent-filled, specialty gift hampers providing eco-friendly, natural and practical products that will make the difference during pregnancy and postpartum periods.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
Our journey is just beginning, although I must say, taking over a business with a 5-month-old is not for the faint hearted (as I have learned)! Through sleep regressions, and learning how to use Excel spreadsheets again, we have been very busy! But seeing the look on a new mama’s face when she has something special dropped off just for her makes it all worth it.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
Definitely adding the element of fully customisable hampers. You will not find any two ‘For The Mama’ hampers exactly the same – just as each mama is unique, so are our hampers. As we know, each of our journeys are so different, and not every mama needs exactly what is in each hamper, so switch it out! We have countless designs, colours, scents, flavours and styles to choose from and we spend the time to go through the options to ensure each new mama gets exactly what she needs (and in her style).
Once we opened up this option, we found many more mamas were receiving exactly what they needed, and the orders started flowing!
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
As a registered midwife, I started to really struggle balancing life and family with work as the demands grew greater and greater. Then once we launched ‘For The Mama’ during my maternity leave, balance just came naturally – we were at home all together! Luckily for me, my colleagues are my family. My partner and daughter are there with me at every market stall, every stock order and delivery (it really does take a village!). My sister and mum are also all hands on deck when we have bulk orders come through. It is one big family occasion. As for downtime, we make sure we get plenty of vitamin D by the oceanside and make sure we have regular family meals at our favourite venues to reconnect and unwind.
