Dear fellow moms or soon-to-be moms,
My name is Melissa Bowley and I am a mom of two energetic little boys, Conrad (3 years old) and Hudson (10 months old). I am also the founder of momunity and was inspired to create this community after my experiences while being pregnant and during my postpartum recovery.
While being pregnant with and delivering my two beautiful healthy babies was one of the most amazing experiences in my life, I also realized the toll the process took on my body including the emotional, hormonal, physical and mental changes my body went through. When I sought medical help, I was told this is just the way it is once you have a baby. Through research, I quickly realized that this is not the "norm" and that most other countries provide more support and care for new and expecting moms than the United States. Taking care of mothers results in healthier babies, families and communities.
Many of the programs and therapies offered to new and expecting moms in other countries included preventative care through nutrition counseling, postpartum physical therapy, prenatal fitness, community support groups and in-home midwife/nurse support immediately postpartum. Most of these therapies have also been clinically proven to better the health of both the mom and baby and potentially prevent long term health issues such as postpartum depression, bladder issues, and pelvic floor prolapse for example.
I was on a mission to better maternity care in the US through building awareness and increasing access to local community resources for new and expecting moms. Thus momunity was born (pun intended).