I learnt the art of Mothering the new Mother from my Gogo (Zulu word for GrandMother) and the women in my family. As a baby is born so is a Mother born too. Both equally in need of nourishment and rest. 

A new Mum emerges from birth into a space of being undisturbed and still with nothing to do but to just be; to be in awe of her body, to be fed healing food, to receive all the help that she wants, to pause as she and her baby learn and enjoy each other. The nurturing that they both receive during this time will stay with them for the rest of their lives. 

This type of emergence into Motherhood is a birthright for Mothers in all parts of the world and my aim is that PPP brings some of this sacredness into your journey too. You deserve it. 

Thando Zwane

Birthkeeper: Birth and Postnatal Doula

Hypnobirthing teacher 

Birth Preparation Educator 

Doula Mentor

Foundation

Reflection

    Reflexology has always been part of my life. My Great Aunt was a reflexologist, as was my mother, using the practice to calm my digestive and stress related symptoms from an early age; this inspired me to provide the same nurturing treatments to others. I have always loved to care for people and develop rich and healing relationships with those around me. I am passionate about looking at the person – not just the feet – to gain a better understanding of the treatment required.

Through my reflexology practice I have helped women through stress, trauma and imbalance. But I found the time when women needed support the most was postpartum; yet this was the time that my clients stopped having treatments because all their energy and love went to their baby. I was then called in 6 months postpartum to treat a host of issues including burn out, PTSD, insomnia and some more serious emotional and physical issues.

So Postpartum Plan was born. A holistic online programme laying the emotional and physical foundations for a lifetime of parenthood. I have gathered all the expertise that I believe we should all have access to postpartum; women's physio, breath work, nutritionist, emotional freedom techniques, postpartum doula and more. Plus I will be teaching you reflexology techniques to do on yourself to relax, restore and replenish you in times of need.

Foundation

Recovery

Reflection

    I am a therapist and coach.  I support parents through pregnancy, birth and beyond with anxiety, burnout, overwhelm and trauma.  I am a course instructor and supervisor for Traumatic Birth Recovery, co-founder of Juno Perinatal Mental Health Support, and am a Change Agent for Maternal Mental Health Scotland. I regularly contribute to local and national NHS committees on Perinatal Mental Health. I am also mum to 4 boys, live in Edinburgh and you can find me roaming my local beaches.  

My role in Postpartum Plan is to support you emotionally postpartum. I provide introductions to simple EFT techniques as well as teach you the tools you need when you are feeling overwhelmed. 

Mindset

    Gemma is a mother of 3 and Pilates instructor based in South East London. She is passionate about the link between movement and mental health, and specifically how nourishing Pilates can be for new parents. This is not only about building strength, but connecting back to their bodies which may feel slightly alien post birth!

Gemma provides gentle yet effective pilates for Postpartum Plan. All moves are safe at any point of your postpartum journey and help you to reconnect back to your body. Gemma  is also the founder of Shape Pilates, an online Pilates platform suitable for when you feel ready to move onto more challenging classes. 

Movement

  Jess is a Nutritional Therapist and Mum to two boys.  She is passionate about the remarkable impact good nutrition can have on peoples’ daily lives, and she loves working with families to make positive changes for better health.   

Jess has worked for a global cycling company, Spokes.fit, for a few years supporting athletes of differing abilities and health achieve their goals.  She also has a keen interest in kids nutrition and delivers workshops for Mums of little ones, as well as holding private consultations with families. With all clients, her aim is to make good nutrition easy and effective, often by creating personalised plans to address the root cause of health issues.  She can advise on all aspects of nutrition, supplements and functional testing.  

Jess’s role at PostpartumPlan is making sure Mums have the best guidance to support their transition into motherhood; the mental and physical demands on the body are huge, and the ‘fuel’ we use to get through this can have a significant impact on longer term health and wellbeing.  

As part of the programme, she provides tips on how to nourish our bodies for optimal healing and replenishment, balance energy and mood, and support hormone and mental health.  As a Mum herself, Jess’s guidance is easy to follow with yummy tried and tested recipes.

Nutrition

  Beth has been a GP for 15 years, a mother for 12 years and passionate about the personalisation of care for as long as she can remember.

Reflection

    Emma Watkins is a yoga teacher, lover of nature and the outdoors, Emma pursues learning in the fields of mental and physical health, acknowledging that success in life, goes in hand in hand with achieving self mastery.

Emma completed her 200 hr vinyasa yoga teacher training in 2014, a specialised trauma training in the US in 2015 , and a yin training in 2020, cementing a life-long interest and dedication to exploration of self. After having her first child in 2020, Emma decided to deepen her knowledge around pregnancy, completing a pre and post-natal training followed by a pranayama training in 2021, to complement her healing work. Emma has also worked closely with adaptive yoga, learning about the benefits of yoga for those with disability.

Emma believes in, and teaches, a practice that allows the body to ground, rests the nervous system, as well as strengthens and tones.

Emma is very excited to have the opportunity to be part of the team of Postpartum Plan, a holistic 30 day programme that lays the physical and mental foundations for a life of parenthood. She will be providing yoga and breath-work sequences to support the healing and recovery from the inside out.

Movement

Foundation

Mindset

    My full professional title is Pelvic Obstetric & Gynecological Physiotherapist, but my friends call me The Fanny Physio! I assess and treat all pain and dysfunction of the pelvic region, its muscles and skeleton. We are the first line treatment for symptoms down there, as well as back and pelvic pain, tummy muscle rehabilitation, pregnancy and post-natal fitness.

I specialize in treating women through pregnancy to treat pain and prepare for birth as well as post-partum care to support and heal birth trauma, diastasis recti, pelvic floor dysfunctions and supporting mums through their post-natal journal.

I have worked as a womens health physiotherapist for more than 10 years and a physiotherapist for more than 15. In 2017 I set up my own physiotherapy and rehabilitation space with my business partner Claire and our husbands in Battersea: Four. Sides London. This has grown to be a space I’m super proud of, a hub in our community and a place where so many women share their post-natal journeys with me.

I am passionate about empowering women to feel healthy and strong through pregnancy, after birth and beyond. My book “Stronger, the honest guide to healing and rebuilding after pregnancy and birth” (Pub date 27th May 2021) is a step by step guide for mothers to feel their strongest and is a text book of all I have learnt and share with mothers on a daily basis. It lays bare all those things we were too afraid to ask or didn’t know to ask! It is the guide which should come with every maternity pack and one that I hope will support you on your unique start to motherhood.

My post-natal mantra “protect, stabilise and rehabilitate” is a theory we must apply to recover from all injuries and no more so than after pregnancy and birth. Too often these essential steps to healing are overlooked and our strength and ability to return to things we enjoy is negatively impacted as a result.

My professional life has been greatly enhanced by motherhood and sharing my journey as a mum with my two girls.

Recovery