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Supporting, educating and advocating for women and mothers across pregnancy, birth, postpartum and all stages of motherhood.

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"In giving birth to our babies, we may find that we give birth to new possibilities within ourselves"
Myla and Jon Kabat-Zinn

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Here you’ll find spaces to learn, connect, and feel supported - whether you’re seeking evidence-based information, real-life stories, practical tools, or opportunities to collaborate. Each part of this website is designed to nurture you through birth, postpartum, and beyond.

What No One Told You

The truths about birth and motherhood we all deserve to hear.

Free Tools for Your Wellbeing

Worksheets, guides, and gentle practices you can start today.

Stories That Heal

Read and share real birth and postpartum experiences - because your story matters too.

Work With Me

Invite me to share my expertise and passion for perinatal mental health as a guest speaker, podcast guest, workshop presenter, writer or panel contributor. I love partnering with conferences, podcasters, events, mother’s groups, and fellow professionals to create meaningful conversations and impactful education.

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I'm just going to leave this here x

Research on self-compassion found the opposite of what most of us were taught. People who treat themselves kindly aren't lazier or softer. They recover from setbacks faster and are more likely to try again.

You don't have to berate yourself to motivate yourself, remember that love is more powerful, including self love and kindness.

#Innercritic #MaternalMentalHealth #PerinatalMentalHealth #PostpartumSupport #SelfCompassion

Just wanted to let you know my first blog of 2026 is up! And I decided to write about this healthy baby narrative that urks me to the core.

You can read via link in bio or on thepowerofbirth.net/blog

..."At least the baby is healthy” can protect harmful systems from scrutiny
This is where the phrase becomes more than insensitive. It can become dangerous. Because if the ultimate defence of maternity care is “the baby survived and is healthy,” then almost anything that happened to the woman on the way there becomes easier to justify...So when women describe feeling harmed and our response is “but your baby is healthy,” we do more than invalidate one woman. We risk making the conditions that produced the harm harder to see..."

I've got great ideas for the next one - So What Happens When The Baby Isn't Healthy? 😉 stay tuned for that one!

Check out the blog, love to hear your thoughts x

#blog #allthatmattersisahealthybaby #birth #postpartum #birthtrauma

I've said it once and I will say it again. This cultural belief and statement is dangerous.

A healthy baby should not be the standard in maternity care and maternal mental health.

Mothers are not collateral damage.

A healthy baby at the expense of a broken mother is not success... and a healthy baby is not the standard.

#maternalmentalhealth #birthtrauma #perinatalpsychology ##perinatalmentalhealth #healthybaby

He's only 7 years old 🩷 he still wants to hold my hand, to cuddle, kiss goodnight, lay with him, read to him, play with him, help him, and I hope it never ends.

Everytime they ask me to play, or they are chatty in the car or jump into my bed in the night, I wonder when the last time will be. Not in a negative way, in a way that helps me appreciate what we have now, the stage they are in now, the little people they are now, the parent I am now. Because this is the whole point.

When I realised just how fast time goes, since coming out of that postpartum fog, I soak up as much as I can because of the time that was taken in the fog.

Special moments I wouldn't normally post or capture this way, but today I did and I know in a few years I'll be really glad I did.

👏📣👏📣👏📣👏📣
Touched out?
Chronically sleep deprived?
Carrying the mental load?
Exhausted?

You can be connected to your baby and still need space from the demands of mothering.

Your needs matter too. You have a nervous system, sensory limits, physical needs and an identity beyond caregiving.

Needing a break does not break the bond or attachment to your baby, in fact, having some space to meet our own needs is exactly what allows us to come back with more capacity to connect 🩷🙏

Sit with it.
Witness it.
Be with it.
Allow it in.
Open it.

So much of suffering is prolonged because we avoid or resist it. What happens if you be with your suffering, allow yourself to feel it?

As I sit here and write this I see so many parallels with birth, "the only way out is through" and the surrender required to birth your baby. The concept is the same with your emotional pain. With matrescence. All the hard parts of motherhood. Even grief and loss.

I am reminded of Dr Aurelie Athans statement, "...there is suffering inherent within it" as she spoke about the tranformation from maiden to mother, and the developmental changes that come with motherhood that we now know as matrescence. Suffering comes with becoming a mother, I wonder if we can meet that suffering with kindness and a willingness to let it in and pass through, what would be different.

30 seconds of self compassion a day for 30 days - challenge!

If you have been following in my stories, each day I am posting a self compassion practice that you can follow, or, use the self compassion calendar with 30 prompts to support your practice! Just comment or DM me if you want your copy 🙏🙂

I wonder what would change if you spent an intentional 30 seconds a day being more kind to yourself?

Join me and 25 others from @thepowerofbirth community committing to more self kindness 🩷

#motherhood #selfcompassion #selfkindness #thepowerofbirth #perinatalmentalhealth

I remember those early newborn days with my first questioning everything. Who am I? How am I going to get through another day? How do people with more than one do this?! Will I ever sleep again??

That transition can be brutal. The shock of keeping a baby alive on 2 hours of broken sleep, the unhelpful advice making you feel like you are doing it wrong, staring at yourself in the mirror feeling like a foreigner in your own body, wondering if you have lost your mind.

Those early newborn days can be a major adjustment and you might be wondering how on earth you are going to keep doing it. We adjust. We learn. We grow. We evolve. I have so much to say to this woman in the photo - you wouldn't know she was riddled with anxiety (about sleep) would you!

What was something you said when you became a mother the first time?

#mentalload #maternalmentalhealth #matrescence #postpartumsupport #thepowerofbirth

A piece from my journal postpartum with my second, 6 years ago. There's so much grief related to that time of my life. Feeling like I was drowning, completely confused, stressed, ragey, anxious trying to get all the help I could during covid (remember that?)

"Something is wrong" - I acknowledged this but had no idea where to turn. I ended up calling PANDA (perinatal anxiety and depression Australia) and that conversation was a turning point for me.

There is so much shame in struggling with your mental health as a parent. Even as I read my words I feel it creep back in. But we need to speak the secret, say the hard things out loud - this will alleviate shame and allow others to wrap their arms of support around you. That was the best thing I ever did.

These were real thoughts, real experiences and I never thought I would share but if it helps someone who is also lost, confused and struggling then its worth it. And they can see that its not forever, with the right help and support you can be well and thriving again.

If you feel like something is wrong, you aren't yourself, you're losing control, overwhelmed, ragey, stressed, low, nothing is working and feeling alone please reach out to someone there are so many amazing supports to help you find you again 🩷 I will tag some below.

@pandanational
@gidgetfoundation
@cope.org.au
@forwhenhelpline
@mumspace.com.au
@mumsmatterpsychology
@postpartumsupportinternational

If yourself or someone you know is in danger please call 000 for emergencies (Australia).
@lifelineaustralia crisis support is also available.

You matter, too.

#perinatalmentalhealth #motherhood #postpartum #mumrage #postnatalanxiety

Ever had a good catch up with a friend, that was more than just a fun time, but you shared vulnerability, walls were down and you could say the hard thing and they got you? Yeah. Those are the best.

There are lots of different ways to support, having an honest and vulnerable conversation with someone who gets it can be therapeutic and its absolutely worth it.

Say the hard shameful thing to the person you feel gets you the most. Those conversations save lives.

#ThePowerofBirth #perinatalmentalhealth ##motherhood #maternalsuicide #mumfriends

Very excited to share that I am now working at @mumsmatterpsychology supporting mothers and parents in the perinatal period.

What a full circle moment.

So much of my work, study, research and advocacy over the past several years has centred around pregnancy, birth, postpartum and the enormous psychological transition that can come with becoming a parent. To now be doing this work as a registered psychologist feels pretty special. 🤍

Mums Matter Psychology is a bulk-billed telehealth psychology service supporting parents through pregnancy, postpartum and early parenthood including anxiety, depression, birth trauma, adjustment to motherhood, overwhelm, identity changes, grief and loss, and the many things that can come up during this season of life.

I am now available to book with through the Mums Matter Psychology website. You can obtain a Mental Health Care Plan through your GP for fully bulk-billed sessions, or book as a private-paying client, both options are available. This is an incredible initiative helping make perinatal mental health support moreI accessible, removing some of the financial barriers that can make it difficult for parents to get help when they need it most.

I’m currently available for appointments on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

And for those who have followed @thepowerofbirth for a long time, thank you. This feels like another piece of everything I have been building here coming together but this isn't it, there is more to come!!

🩷🩷

#motherhood #PerinatalMentalHealth
#mumsmatter #maternalmentalhealth #perinatalpsychologist

30 Seconds of Self Compassion a day for 30 days in September and we begin tomorrow - 1st of September!!

Follow my stories to complete a self compassion practice every single day - you just need to give yourself 30 seconds!
This may be a skill you are still developing, it might feel really yuck or hard at first, maybe your curious, maybe you have no idea how to do this or what this means, maybe you are feeling like you dont deserve it - if any of this is you, follow along, join me in giving a little bit back to yourself. Share with a friend and join together!

You matter too. You deserve the kindness you give to others.

🩷🩷🩷

@thepowerofbirth

#selfcompassion #30daysofselfcompassion #womenshealth #motherhoof #thepowerofbirth

Support isn't measured by what you're willing to do. It's measured by what she gets to put down.

Most importantly, support is measured by how the mother defines support.

#PostpartumSupport #MaternalMentalHealth #postpartum #thepowerofbirth #Motherhood

Read them again and notice the power of the word AND.

Not "but." "But" cancels the first half, it makes one feeling the real one and the other a mistake. "And" lets both stand.

Two opposite things can coexist. That isn't a contradiction to resolve.

That's just an accurate description of motherhood.
Next time you find yourself feeling the weight of both thoughts and feelings happening at the same time, use the word AND to alleviate some of that pressure.

#Matrescence #MaternalMentalHealth #PostpartumSupport #thepowerofbirth #PerinatalMentalHealth

Working with children and adolescents has taught me that you are almost never working with the child alone.
You are working with an entire system.

Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory reminds us that a child develops within layers of relationships, environments and social structures; their family, school, peers, community, services, policies, culture and the broader circumstances surrounding their life. A child’s behaviour cannot be separated from those systems. And yet, that is exactly what we try to do.

1. We focus on the behaviour we can see rather than asking what might be driving it. We ask how to make a child more compliant, regulated or manageable before asking what their behaviour might be communicating. We continue to prioritise behaviourist approaches over attachment, development and context.

2. Adults do not automatically have the emotional intelligence, reflective capacity or self-awareness required to recognise their own contribution to a dynamic. Adults supporting children all bring their own experiences, beliefs, biases, stress and emotional capacity into the relationships. Having authority over a child does not necessarily mean having the skills to understand them.

3. Then there are the systems themselves. Caseloads are high. Resources are limited. Staff are stretched. Support can become reactive rather than preventative .

4. Working with children requires specialised skills: developmental knowledge, emotional attunement, relationship building, reflection, curiosity, play and the ability to understand behaviour in context.

5. Children often have the least power within the systems making decisions about them, when they should be at the centre of them.

So if we are serious about supporting children and adolescents, the goal cannot simply be to change their behaviour. We have to be willing to look at the relationships, environments and systems shaping it too.

#ChildPsychology #AdolescentMentalHealth #ChildDevelopment #attachment #supportingchildren

You shouldn’t have to add “but I love my kids” every time you say something about motherhood is hard.

“I need a break.”
“I miss who I was before.”
“I’m touched out.”
“I feel resentful.”
“I don’t enjoy this stage.”
“I wish I had more freedom.”
“Sometimes I don’t want anyone to need anything from me.”

None of those sentences require a disclaimer. But mothers learn very quickly that difficult feelings are often treated like evidence against their love.

So we soften them.

“I’m exhausted, but I love my kids.”
“I miss my old life, but obviously I wouldn’t change them.”
“I need time away, but don’t get me wrong, I’m so grateful.”

You can love your children deeply and still have needs that exist entirely separately from them.

You can struggle with motherhood without putting your love for your children on trial.

Sometimes “I’m finding this really hard” is the whole sentence.

#matrescence #maternalmentalhealth #thepowerofbirth #perinatalmentalhealth #motherhood

Anyone else??

I remember trying to dress myself pregnant, then for the practicality of breastfeeding, and the changes my body had postpartum. My style had completely changed and I even felt like I didnt have one anymore. It was all part of the loss of identity that came with motherhood.

I used to get so frustrated, upset even when I would be getting dressed. They definitely dont make clothes to fit bigger bodies, let alone excess skin and postpartum bellies (I still refer to my stomach as that even though its been 6 years 😅). The frustration is real.

Its taken some time, but eventually I've found different styles that work for me and I will now spend the $$ if it is going to make me feel better about myself! That took work too.

Did you ever find your style again? Seems like such an unimportant thing but it really did have an impact. Living in an image obsessed world certainly doesnt help that.

🩷🩷

#motherhood #postpartum #style #identityinmotherhood #Matrescence

Grief visits in the absence of something that mattered to us.

There are many types of losses where grief is experienced and I often have mothers tell me they are ashamed to feel grief because they have a healthy living baby. But grief visits most of us, grief and loss are a very common experience in motherhood.

🩷🩷

#motherhood #thepowerofbirth #griefandloss #perinatalmentalhealth #postpartum

You can be grateful and still say it was hard.

You can be grateful for your baby and grieve how they came into the world.

You can know things could have been worse and still be affected by what actually happened.

Gratitude does not cancel out pain.

“at least…” isn’t reassurance. It’s a way of moving past someone’s pain before they’ve had the chance to fully comprehend it, feel it, or process it.

“At least your baby is healthy.”
“At least you didn’t need a caesarean.”
“At least you got pregnant.”
“At least everyone is okay.”

Maybe all of those things are true. But they don’t make the difficult part disappear. Sometimes the most supportive response isn’t to find the positive.
It’s to stay with the person long enough to say:

That was hard.
That hurt.
This sucks.

There doesn’t always need to be a silver lining.

Sometimes the hard thing is allowed to just be hard.

#gratitude #MaternalMentalHealth #PostpartumSupport #thepowerofbirth #PerinatalMentalHealth

Before we tell a mother she needs more self-care, can we ask a few other questions first.

Because “you need to take care of yourself, try some self care” has become the answer to the struggle.

You cannot bubble-bath your way out of chronic sleep deprivation. A face mask does not replace a partner who notices the washing without being asked.

Self-care is not the intervention. Support is.

So when a mother is struggling, the more useful questions are these. Is she sleeping? Does anyone help her practically? Is she the only person in the house who remembers the appointments, the nappy sizes, the birthday presents, the fact that they are nearly out of bread? Does she have a single hour that belongs to her and nobody else?

Fix those, and self-care stops having to do the heavy lifting.

#mentalload #maternalmentalhealth #matrescence #postpartumsupport #thepowerofbirth

Not sure what to get a new mum, for baby shower or for your first visit postpartum? Here are some of my favourite things!!

Good Mums Have Scary Thoughts by Karen Kleiman @postpartumstress is my all time favourite and is a gift I give to all new mums.

The Lovely Haze of Baby Days by Lindsay Keller-Madsen @lindsay.kellar.madsen a very real book depicting everyday life with a baby in a way the kids enjoy too

Eye masks by @james_cosmetics because they helped me look a little better sleep deprived haha

Face masks @thefaceshop.anz to make you feel alive

Foraged @foragedforyou_ my naturopath put me on to this product and I have never looked back.

Lactation hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies with boobie butter by @madetomilk and @thebodsociety

Of course I throw in @thepowerofbirth pelvic health info pamphlet (because we all deserve to know about whats normal/not normal for our pelvic floor) and the postpartum toolbox 🩷

What are your favourite things to gift new mums??

#ThePowerofBirth
#perinatalmentalhealth #babyshowergifts #postpartum #newmum

I know too many and I blame none of them. It actually pains me to even write the words on the screen.

There are literally mums who dont want to be here anymore, and they are only still here because they live for their children.

Heartbreaking.

When 1 in 5 mothers experience perinatal mental health conditions, and suicide remains one of the leading causes of maternal death in Australia, this is not an individual resilience problem.

We need systems that recognise distress earlier, make specialist support accessible, and stop waiting until mothers are in crisis before asking why they didn’t reach out.

Around 1 in 12 mothers experience suicidal thoughts during the perinatal period. I do think that stat is severely underreported. But this should not be happening at this scale.

If you read this and thought, “that’s me” you are not the only one. I urge you to tell someone how you are feeling and seek support. 🩷🙏❤️‍🩹

You matter.

#maternalsuicide #maternalmentalhealth #perinatalmentalhealth #postpartum #thepowerofbirth

Motherhood was never meant to be isolating…
Yet so many mothers are expected to carry the mental load, the physical load, the emotional load and all of the invisible work, often with nowhere near enough support.

Then, when you feel anxious, overwhelmed, sleep deprived, disconnected or exhausted, somehow you become the problem.

You’re left wondering what’s wrong with you.
Why you’re not coping better.
Why everyone else seems to manage.
But you are not failing at this.

Your distress, your mood, your exhaustion may be a very understandable response to being asked to carry too much, for too long, with too little support.

The problem isn’t that a mother is struggling. The problem is how much we expect her to carry.

Mothers need holding too.

#ThePowerOfBirth #MaternalMentalHealth #PerinatalMentalHealth #MotherhoodSupport #PostpartumSupport

We need to keep talking about perinatal mental health. We need to talk about what it looks like, the nuances in this period of life, the impact, the hope.

Postnatal depression and/or anxiety does not always look like sadness.
Sometimes it looks like withdrawal.
Sometimes it looks like control.
Sometimes it looks like a mother who appears to be coping exceptionally well but feels dead on the inside.
Sometimes it looks like rage.
Sometimes it looks like shame.
Sometimes it looks like urgency.
Sometimes it looks like protection.
Sometimes it looks like panic.
Sometimes it looks like everything's fine, until it isnt.

When was the last time someone checked on you, and you were honest?
When was the last time you checked on your friends and family? Just in case you missed something.

Remember to check in with your friends and family no matter the age of their children. We need each other 🩷

Mums need other mums and we need to feel safe enough to be honest about how we are feeling.

#ThePowerofBirth #motherhood #postpartum #anxiety #depression

WE NEED A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT HYPEREMESIS GRAVIDARUM. Who’s with me?

#hyperemesis #hg #pregnancysickness #pregnancy #pregnancytrauma

Define “normal”.

Did you know you can have a textbook birth and still feel traumatised?

You can follow every recommendation, have healthcare providers who believe everything went “well”, leave with a healthy baby and still walk away deeply affected by what happened.

Because birth trauma isn’t determined only by the outcome. It can be shaped by fear, pain, loss of control, feeling unheard, helplessness, unexpected intervention, or believing that you or your baby were in danger. Your nervous system doesn’t stop to ask whether what happened was common.

Common does not mean harmless.
Routine does not mean insignificant.
A healthy baby does not automatically mean a healthy experience.

#BirthTrauma #PerinatalMentalHealth #TraumaInformedCare #PostpartumSupport #thepowerofbirth

I've seen such a divide on the internet about this case. I often think about what it would be like to have your worst most vulnerable dark thoughts, feelings, experiences, the worst of the worst, on trial, blasted all over the news and internet for everyone to then have a say.
Awful. Humans can be awful, people do terrible things, and humans love to punish one another for it. I do think a mother who has harmed, in the case murdered, her children does not need the world pilling on to her shame, regret, grief, loneliness and self torture.

Working with parents who have harmed their children due to their mental state - I dont want to judge them, I want to understand them, I want them to tell me what they are feeling so I can keep them and the people around them safe, even if that means they need to be kept safe from themselves.

If I can encourage you to also take a step back from the noise around this case, I think that would be a good takeaway.

#perinatalmentalhealth #postnatalpsychosis #psychiatricillness #motherhood #psychology

Motherhood “trends” I wish would actually trend…

That every mother is allowed to do it differently.

That a messy house isn’t evidence of failure.

That needing time away doesn’t mean you love them less.

That fed is the key word.

That loving the newborn stage and simply surviving it are both valid.

That gratitude doesn’t cancel exhaustion.

That sleep choices aren’t moral categories.

That bodies don’t just “bounce back.”

And that judging another mother is often easier than facing how unsupported we all are.

Imagine if these were the norm instead of the exception.

#MotherhoodTrends #PerinatalMentalHealth #PostpartumToolbox #NormaliseMotherhood #MumsOfInstagram

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"In giving birth to our babies, we may find that we give birth to new possibilities within ourselves" Myla and Jon Kabat-Zinn