Dear Latham,

My name is Cathy; we’ve never met. I’m a naturotherapy practitioner in Montreal.

Before I even set pen to paper (fingers to keyboard), I know I might be committing some sort of online business no-no. It might be poor form to promote someone else’s work on my site – especially as mine is a tiny newborn still trying to find its way in the world – but I feel compelled to write this. For me, for you, for all the women out there.

What you are doing for new mothers is so essential in our society, it must be shared.

I first heard about you on Glimpse TV, when your book, Mama Glow, was about to be released. Then in July, I listened to you again on the Daily Love Extravaganza. Both times, I was overjoyed that you’re popularizing the idea of giving birth to the mother.

Oh, how I wish someone had been there to midwife my own emergence when I was having children. I think I’ve done a fine job as a mother. I grew over the years, so that I was a different person, hence, a different mother to each of my 3 sons. The biggest change was my ability to trust my instincts rather than parent the way I had been raised.

Though I sometimes wonder how much more present I could have been for them had I known how to be more present with myself from the start.

I’ve recently been re-examining my healing journey for the purposes of deepening my practice, and my business. The other day, it hit me that a major time of stuckness in my life came when I was moving away from my baby-moon*. Because I didn’t have a solid sense of who I was going into the pregnancy, I wasn’t entirely sure who I was coming out at the other end of early motherhood.

* Let me pause her to clarify something. I know that couples today use the term “baby-moon” for that last-chance-for-romance trip they take before their lives are changed forever. (What a great way to reconnect at this crucial transition, in these days of long relationships before kids!)

For me, the baby-moon was the time when I was cocooned in with my little ones.

Steiner philosophy recognizes school age as the time when the child is ready to raise his head from under the apron strings and go out into a more social environment. At this same point in my life as a mother, I emerged from a cloud of mothering hormones & nesting to feel lost as to my own purpose and next steps.

I’d just made that connection, and then I heard your conversation with Mastin Kipp. It made me wonder if I’d have felt so lost to myself and my purpose had I been better prepared by someone like you before & during my pregnancies.

Of course, our values & priorities can change drastically when we have kids, and there’s a certain need for re-evaluation. But the other day, I was feeling as if part of me had been frozen in a time before my 1^st was born. In some ways, I’ve still been living the inner parts of my life as a 25-yr-old, though I’m well past that now.

Ina May Gaskin, author of Spiritual Midwifery, brought wholeness back in to the birthing experience in a way that had been lost to modern culture. For the most part, her work has been recognized in the alternative underground.  In Canada, and specifically in Quebec, the resurgence of midwifery has moved her ideas out of the closet through the last 20 years. What you are doing, Latham, takes those necessary concepts out into the mainstream world in such a straightforward and accessible way. Not to mention with style and sass! I applaud you for that. I give you a standing ovation.

I’ve just finished reading Mama Glow: A Hip Guide to your Fabulous Abundant Pregnancy. Even before I owned it, I had no qualms about recommending it. I was right in my assumptions: this will be my gift to any pregnant woman I know or will know in the coming years. And I’ll be keeping it handy for some of those yummy recipes!

In some ways our work is similar.

Though I’ve never put my own doula training into practice, it still serves me. It serves me in my ability to work effectively with women, no matter the reason they’re coming to see me. It serves me in my understanding of the importance, no, the vital necessity, of female community. It serves me in my desire to help women be the most they can be.

One day in the not too distant future, I hope to have it serve me in teaching young girls and adolescents about the brilliance of their own bodies and spirits. I hope to diminish many female health issues later in life through holistic education earlier in life.

In my current practice, I often work with women who are moving out of childbearing and motherhood, through the long dark tunnel of perimenopause. A whole different birth canal. But really, the same type of destabilization happens at any transition: starting or ending relationships, turning 30, turning 40, career changes, retirement,…

These grey areas are the places I love to shed light. My work is about helping women to find solid ground when it all seems off kilter. It’s so great that you are there providing similar support to women as they blossom into motherhood.

I could go on, Latham, but won’t take any more of your time. I look forward to a day when I can sit down with you to discuss our work. For now, I’ll continue to learn from you, and be inspired by the support of knowing there are others out there championing this incredible resurgence of the feminine.

With all my best wishes for your continued success,

P.S. to everyone What did you learn about yourself through motherhood? Share in a Reply below.