Prepping for parenthood: Maternal Health Expo offers resources, info

PERRY, Ga. — Becoming a parent is an immense change in anybody’s life, especially new moms. With the stress of motherhood, having assistance is critical.

An African proverb says: “It takes a village to raise a child.” While the exact country of origin is unknown, stateside, one local business owner is hoping to build a village for new moms.

To accomplish this, she held a maternal health expo with multiple businesses and local organizations Saturday at Rozar Park. The event spanned from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It was a lively affair, with music, giveaways and a chance for local businesses and organizations to provide resources for new and expecting mothers, along with those who know and support new moms.

Patricia Prime organized the event. She is a registered nurse, a lactation consultant and a postpartum doula. Prime owns Prime BabyTime Consulting, providing doula services to new moms, describing it as “the bridge between the hospital and the home.”

Prime said she felt like the postpartum period tends to be neglected after a baby is born.

“If we start to pay attention to the mom in the postpartum period and make sure that she’s healthy, she can be the best that she can in raising her children,” Prime said.

Prime also wants to break the stigma new mothers face when they do not have everything all figured out. That is why she hopes to empower the community, so they can come together as “the village” and help provide assistance for new mothers.

“When [mom] is tired, she hasn’t gotten any sleep, she’s not feeling well, we’ve been taught as women: ‘Get it together; pull up those pants. You’ve got to make this work; you’ve got to take care of this family.’ I’m trying to change that and have us focus on taking care of that mom initially, so that she can go and do that.”

Prime assured new moms that it is okay not to be okay.

“It’s okay to ask for help, and when [mom] asks for help, because of the information that we’ve shared, people will be more willing to get that [help], because now they understand the importance of postpartum recovery,” Prime said.

For Prime, the impact “the village” had on her was personal. Her mother passed away when she was only 22-days-old, and she recalled her family coming together to help raise her.

“There was a lot of disruption in the family after my mom passed away,” Prime said. “But my aunt, who raised me, who I call ‘mom,’ she did a really good job taking care of me.”

Because of this, the issue of maternal mortality is one that hits close to home, and an issue she hopes to stop from happening.

“I never knew her; I never knew my mom. To stop that from happening again, this is my life,” Prime said.

Prime also plans on taking these resources on the road. Close by, she has travel plans for Crawford County, Macon-Bibb County and Peach County. With Black Voters Matter, she plans to travel to Southern Georgia, as well.

What is Prime’s advice for new moms? She urges new moms to take care of themselves and get as much rest as they can through postpartum, either by hiring a doula, or setting up help ahead of time before a baby is born.

She also urges new moms to ask for help with their mental health and to find someone that they trust, that they can go to when things get difficult.

“Spend some time figuring out how you are going to navigate that period when you get home,” Prime said.

Her advice to those who expect perfection from new moms: “Stop. Because we don’t have to have it all together.”

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