Mental Health & Motherhood Awareness Month: MAMA By FITMOM

Welcome to November - MAMA month!MAMA stands for Mental Health and Motherhood Awareness. During the month, FITMOM will be engaging in an online symposium to address some of the emotional challenges that women and young families face today. During this time, we will share helpful resources with you, as well as stories from real mothers. It is our hope to be able to educate and support not only mothers, but the people that love them too.

The topics and conversations will focus on how we can better serve all mothers, including those who are dealing with Postpartum Depression. However, we recognize that many more mothers are feeling overwhelmed, underwhelmed or burned out by the excessive demands that motherhood brings. We intend to focus on the root causes that we feel impact North American women and families and how they can compromise emotional wellness.The stories we share are anonymous, largely because society can be harsh and judgemental. We appeal to you to create a safe place within your own circles, so that any struggling mother can feel free to experience the safety of your love and support. If you have a story to share, we would love to hear it and share it with our FITMOM community.During the month, we will share information about adrenal stress, sleep deprivation, diet and nutrition, and the ‘supermom’ phenomenon. Despite the fact that we live in a fairly progressive society, many women feel they do not have many options for self-care. They are even more limited if and when they find themselves in a period of crisis. We hope that through online discussions we can provide some solutions to create an environment that is emotionally, psychologically and physically structured towards a healthy mother culture.We welcome your questions, your stories and your participation through some active online discussion. We hope to shine an even brighter light on women’s mental health this month. We know that when we provide mothers with the kind of care and support they need to thrive, our entire society benefits.With love, compassion and hope,The FITMOM team – Andrea, Jennifer, Susan and Eva