How occupational therapy can help with pain-free parenting:
A chat with Lisa Westhorpe

Lisa shares the idea of “matrescence,” the transition from pre-parent to parenthood. We talk a lot in society about adolescence – a time of huge change, growth, fluctuating hormones, etc – for kids as they grow up. Matrescence is the same thing, but it’s rarely acknowledged or understood. It’s like we’re expected to just jump into motherhood and just “get used to it,” but when you liken it to the drastic shifts of adolescence it really paints the picture of the challenges we face in that first year of motherhood. So much focus is put into the birth plan, but rarely do we look forward to a postpartum plan for what support we might need in place in those sleep-deprived months. This is one of the things that Lisa works on with her clients, ensuring that new moms have the support they need in those first few months of adjustment and recovery.
I always say that while it takes a village to raise a child, it also takes a village to raise a mom. This was a fascinating chat about motherhood and how we often negate or downplay the major changes that occur when we become moms – physical, emotional and mental. It needs to be acknowledged just how massive this transition is, and just how much we all need our village.
Lisa’s bio:
I became interested in women’s health after my own experiences of pregnancy and early motherhood. Although I had always wanted to be a mum, the reality of the postpartum period was a complete shock to me – how much everything changes: your body, your roles and routines, your free time, your relationships. I felt like no-one had told me about this, and because our culture tends to be more focused on birth than what comes after it, I hadn’t known to research this. I knew that other women must be feeling the same way, and I knew that I could put my skills as an occupational therapist to use to support them.
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