About Us and Why We Started Marabou
My name is Carrie Gaynor. I’m a Navy wife and stay-at-home mom to four children.
When I first became pregnant in 2013, I was completely oblivious to the journey that was ahead of me. I understood that my knowledge was limited and read every empowering book I could get my hands on: Marie Mongan’s Hypnobirthing: The Mongan Method, Susan McCutcheon’s Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding from La Leche League, and Heidi Murkoff’s What to Expect When You’re Expecting. As a result, I thrived in pregnancy. And because I was prepared, my labor and delivery were relaxed, peaceful, and everything I had hoped for.
What threw me off was the postpartum phase that followed. Despite my natural, uncomplicated birth, my mind and body were racked during recovery. I slowed way down. I slept a lot but never enough. My body screamed at me every time I pushed it too hard. But instead of listening, I wondered for weeks upon weeks, When will I be back to normal?! I wish there had been someone to come alongside me to say: This is normal. You are meant to rest. Quit extending yourself. Take your time.
Our world is sprawling more than ever before; extended families are dispersed due to military service, job opportunities, and wanderlust. Moms, aunties, and grandmas no longer live nearby to support new mothers as they welcome a new child. On top of that, rest and recuperation are incongruous with our society. In many cases, new mothers can’t take the pause they need due to work pressure or lack of available maternity leave.
This is where we hope Marabou can step in. My husband and I started this business with the desire to improve the way we think about the months following childbirth, and to enable communities to support postpartum mothers, just like we used to so well. In a world of who-can-get-back-on-her-feet-the-fastest, we want to encourage mothers that childbirth is a major event in their families and bodies. Each new mother deserves a break from her obligations so her body can recover and she can mentally process the transition and bond with her new baby. We want to increase the number of women who receive postpartum support in the form of doula care, in-home chefs, professional house cleaning, and nanny support. We want post-birth peace and rest to become the new norm, so our bodies can recover gracefully and fully. It’s time to bring peace back to the postpartum phase!
