How can expecting mamas prepare for a transformative and empowering postpartum journey?

Motherhood is an experience unlike any other. It's a rollercoaster of emotions, challenges, and profound moments of happiness. Yet, amidst the demands of caring for our little ones, it's easy to lose sight of ourselves, what lights us up, and our joy.

This week’s conversation with Chelsea Barbine is SO juicy! I love that she refers to postpartum as life after birth and that it truly is journey that never ends. Oh my gosh how I wish I would have had these tools and this conversation when I was pregnant and planning for postpartum. 

Chelsea is a wife, mama, postpartum coach, and founder of Core Care Cultivate. She has over a decade of experience in the wellness industry and after preparing and planning for her own birth story, she became inspired to help other mamas. She is on a mission to support expecting mamas by sharing tools to prepare for their fourth trimester so they can best care for their little one without sacrificing sleep, sanity and self-identity. 

As she was preparing for the birth of her daughter, she realized the lack of discussion around a mama’s postpartum journey. We often hear of the warnings or challenges about pregnancy and parenthood, but it was if what happened after birth wasn’t as important or lasted for just a short time. This is absolutely not the case. The postpartum journey, as Chelsea shares, is a forever journey. 

It was at that point in her pregnancy that she was inspired to redefine that narrative. 

“I felt like giving birth was the opportunity to give rebirth to myself.”

The postpartum journey is about reconnecting to our evolved version of ourselves and how we grow in motherhood, with spiritual development, professional development, all of it. We are forever evolving as we go through motherhood.

There is also an importance of slowing down and giving yourself tons of grace so you can be present, so that you can capture a moment here and there, even in the mess and chaos. Chelsea shared four of her big keys to slowing down and I thought they were so good something I think all of us mamas can take to heart. 

4 Key Elements of Postpartum

• Nourishment

• Sleep (all about the quality)

• Home Environment

• Set up the support system; have conversations of what you DO want and what you DON’T want.

I think all of these elements are key, but one that really stood out to me was setting up a support system. Asking for help is hard, I’m sure it is something we can all resonate with. And with a birth, people wanting to help is coming at you left and right. So many people out there want to support and help in a way that is actually helpful but they can’t do that unless they know what they can do to help.

We struggle to ask for the help that we need, but we also struggle to set the boundary to say no we don’t need that.

I believe that the association of asking for help has this reputation of “not being able to do it”. When that’s not the case. You can do it, you just need help because you aren’t able to at that moment. 

Listen mama, it is OKAY to ask for help. It’s not just about the baby after birth, YOU matter too.

One of the biggest things that stood out to me in this conversation was that we need to shed the should of bounce back culture. I mean what the heck are we bouncing back to? What are we bouncing back for? I know for a fact that I wouldn’t want to bounce back to the Brooke I was before I had my son, that was a toxic environment and way of life! Chelsea shared it so well when she said, “A woman is never going to be who she was BEFORE having a child after giving birth.”

YESSSSSSS!!!

We owe it to nobody to bounce back to who we were because becoming a mother forever changes us. 

I do want to emphasize that I think sometimes we tend to lose ourselves in motherhood. It’s easy to get caught up in everything and lose sight of who we were before marriage or before the baby and what it is that brings us joy. Can you relate?

I think Chelsea has a phenomenal way of setting yourself up so that you don’t lose sight of who you are or even want to be, with tools to help you find the joy in life. I would highly recommend taking a look at what she has to offer if you’re an expecting mama or beginning to think about motherhood. I’ll leave her deets below!

Connect with Chelsea!

Website: https://corecarecultivate.com/

Instagram: @chelsea.barbine

Podcast: Cultivate with Chelsea

Take care of yourselves and therefore each other!

XO, Brooke Jean