The road to Moonflower

Early parenthood is an incredibly intense and often very lonely time.  The learning curve is so steep, and all the learning is happening at a time when hormonal shifts and sleep deprivation are the new normal.  

Typical ob-gyn and midwife appointments happen only once – at 6 weeks postpartum. Pediatric visits are more frequent, but time is limited, and the focus tends to be only on the physical signs of the baby.  Who looks after new parents?  Who can a new parent call when they are worried or confused, when they have a question that doesn’t quite fit the bill as “medical,” or when they are feeling overwhelmed and like maybe they’re not doing this right at all?

As an Integrative Pediatrician, I have, in my own life, become a resource for family, friends, and friends of friends who have all gone through this very common new parent experience of loneliness, worry, lack of confidence, and lack of support. Sometimes new parents need medical information, but often they need a listening ear and an experienced voice to tell them that this is normal and that it is (really) going to be ok. 

In reflecting on my own experience as a new mom, and in speaking with my own friends, I began to realize just how deeply new parents need not only advice, but support and counsel in a vast area of concerns.  Their concerns were sometimes medical but also sometimes spiritual or in the realm of interpersonal difficulties. They needed support, but there wasn’t a consistent place for them to find it.  People who happen to have a doctor – especially a Pediatrician – in their friend and family circle, turn to those practitioners, and they become a sounding board and resource.  But what about people who don’t know a doctor personally? 

We used to have a village where there were other parents, elders, and healers to help guide us through and share the load of parenting.  My mission in creating Moonflower is to give that same kind of support to new parents, so that we can all feel held during this period of deep transformation. 

We weren’t meant to do this alone.  Now you don’t have to.