Inspiring Conversations with Molly Nourmand, LMFT of Life After Birth®

Today we’d like to introduce you to Molly Nourmand, LMFT.

Hi Molly, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
In 2017, following the birth of my daughter and my own journey with postpartum depression, I utilized my experience as both a seasoned psychotherapist and survivor of a perinatal mood disorder to create my company, Life After Birth® I offered process-oriented postpartum support circles that helped birthing people transition into parenthood. I served the same population with 1:1 therapy sessions, postpartum planning and mother’s retreats. After several years of helping women through the metamorphosis of becoming mothers, I was called to grow Life After Birth® and its community even larger.

I have recently partnered with Dr. Pari Ghodsi, a practicing OB/GYN who is also passionate about maternal mental health, and together we have expanded Life After Birth® into a virtual haven for motherhood. We offer mental health support and wellness services for pregnancy, postpartum + parenting.

Our mission is to provide mothers the support they need to not just care for their babies but also care for themselves.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
For the past five years, Life After Birth® has been synonymous with Molly Nourmand, LMFT. There are only so many groups I can run and 1:1 clients I can see, so I have a waitlist. This is why I felt called to expand and hire more psychotherapists and offer ancillary services. That said since I have been the face of the company up until recently, this transition has been challenging for mothers to be open to working with someone other than me.

Other obstacles for us include spreading awareness about the importance of maternal mental health and having people understand how helpful group support is during the transition into motherhood. There is still a do-it-yourself mentality that plagues American mothers, so we are trying to debunk the myth that we’re meant to do this alone.

Finally, Dr. Pari and I are making sure our website is user-friendly and that the experience of signing up for our services is seamless. We recognize being able to find a service and book it with ease is essential for our customers–a demographic of people who may already feel overwhelmed with parenting demands.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Our signature offering at Life After Birth® are our support circles, which are different from other motherhood circles that tend to focus on the baby. Our groups are mother-focused. There is a lot of societal emphasis and companies that focus on the baby–how the baby is sleeping, eating and doing? But what about how the mother is sleeping, eating and doing? Becoming a mother is a complicated life transition that transforms you. We hold space for mothers and provide resources to best support this evolution.

It’s important to us that our groups are led by a qualified professionals. Many mothers are dealing with sensitive issues and trauma, which make them at risk for postpartum depression and anxiety. Therefore, all facilitators are mental health professionals who are trained in Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorders. This way, they are skilled at helping women transition into motherhood. They are specially trained in the issues mothers face as well as identifying mood disorders. In addition to our support circles, we now have our psychotherapists trained in perinatal mental health to facilitate 1:1 and couples therapy.

Our groups are currently offered from birth to three years old. Our postpartum groups are available for up to one year after birth, as we believe being postpartum doesn’t end in 6 weeks. Members really get to bond with each other during these weekly deep dives together. Many people transition from a postpartum group into a conscious parenting group, which is for mothers with children age 1-3 years. Parents re-entering these phases are welcome, too.

We believe mental health and wellness have many components. Pregnancy and postpartum care tends to be disjointed. As a solution, Dr. Pari and I curated a group of practitioners that work together. Our services include meditation, pre- and post-natal friendly movement classes, as well as lactation and nutrition consultation from a collaborative team.

Lastly, starting in 2023, we will offer monthly community events in-person in Los Angeles. Centered around socializing and connecting, our events are designed to bring moms together.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Finding a mentor as a working professional can sometimes be elusive. What has worked for me is finding someone that has something that I can aspire to also have within my business. As for networking, I like to think of it as planting seeds with the gardening metaphor applying to growing a business. Life After Birth® is not just my company, it’s my calling; therefore, I enjoy telling l people I know and meet about it. This passion has helped this business organically grow.

Pricing:

• Weekly support circle: $180/month

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ourlifeafterbirth.com
• Instagram: @lifeafterbirth_la

Image Credits
Leanne Sargeant IG @sargeantcreative