The Postpartum Experience of My dreams is Now a reality.

All I wanted in the postpartum period was to be lavished with care so that I could focus on taking care of my baby. Enter Alma Care, Canada’s First Prenatal Postnatal Retreat.

We sat down with Melissa Gallagher, co-founder and CEO of Alma Care, a company that offers customized postnatal support services both in-home and through a postnatal retreat experience at Toronto’s Kimpton Saint George Hotel. We spoke to Melissa about the gap in postpartum care she’s hoping to fill and her company’s take on the Chinese concept of postpartum confinement. 

*This interview has been edited and condensed for brevity and clarity. 

Can you talk a bit about how you personally experienced the gap in the postpartum care space?

I had a long journey into becoming a parent, one that was well-informed as to what my planning and options were. I did a lot of ‘me’-search. I gave birth to my daughter in March 2022. I thought I was very well-prepared. I had bought all the things, read all the things. Within 24 hours, you’re out of the hospital. Whether you realize it or not, in those 24 hours, the check on mom is, ‘Have you peed?’ That’s about it. Then you’re discharged. 

Within the next few weeks, you’re kind of riding this wave of love for this infant and adrenaline from giving birth. You start to come out of this fog about three weeks later. For me, that was when I realized I had just gone through so much physically, mentally, emotionally that I wasn’t prepared for. I had gone back to the doctor, but just for well checks with baby. No check-in for Mom. Even at six weeks, the doctor will touch the tummy, feel if the uterus is back in place, and ask if you want birth control. Which is just wild, given what you’ve just gone through physically, mentally, emotionally. The support structure just wasn’t there to prepare yourself for the postpartum period. It happened pretty quickly that I recognized there was a big gap there. I started to think about: How do we solve for this gap?

Alma Care is the first postnatal retreat in Canada. What is the central idea behind a postnatal retreat?

If you look at many cultures around the world, they treat the postpartum period very differently. Here, as soon as baby comes out, the focus is just on baby. If you look to other cultures outside North America, and certainly outside Canada, there's a very strong focus on Mom, on supporting her physically and mentally after giving birth. If you use countries in Asia as an example, there are many of these sorts of centres that women go to after giving birth. That’s not to lose sight of how important it is to take care of an infant, but for the long-term health of the family, it’s critical to provide Mom with the resources to be supported.

In places like China, it’s very common for women to ‘sit the month’ – that’s a 30 or 40-day period where they observe a version of what they refer to as confinement. We’ve taken inspiration from cultures that do this, with a modern approach. This means very minimal movement, around-the-clock support for Mom and baby, physically, mentally. It means nutritional support; we know how important it is for Mom both for her physical recovery and the breastfeeding journey, and that it can be one of the first things to go out the window when you’re prioritizing this new life.

It also means lots of rest. So you have someone who can take care of baby while you’re sleeping. Also, education: we have a lot of new parents, and it’s about setting them up for success as caregivers for infants. Teaching them how to swaddle, the feeding journey, and healthy sleep habits. Creating a space for them to enjoy ‘the fourth trimester,’ so it doesn’t have to be something they have to tough out or suffer through but an enjoyable experience, one that’s really supportive starting with mom, and as a result, for the whole family.

How does the notion of modern confinement play into the types of food and wellness services you offer?

We really mix East with West. We draw from what we know to be true regarding the postpartum period. From a nutritional perspective, that means warming foods that are nutrient-dense, easy to digest, with ingredients that support lactation. Those principles can align with a Western or Eastern menu. We work with all our guests to ensure we’re meeting their nutritional needs – for example, you might have gestational diabetes or dietary restrictions.

When it comes to wellness, there’s a lot you can do to support the woman’s body after giving birth. We provide a holistic approach that’s customized to every journey. So, you could have acupuncture, postpartum massage. Later on in the journey, it might be pelvic floor therapy or belly binding, which is very common in Eastern traditions. We also provide lactation consulting; our team is very well-versed in the feeding journey, but sometimes there are additional challenges, and we can bring in lactation consultants or occupational therapists.

What are the most common postnatal challenges you see parents dealing with?

There’s a lot of anxiety around feeding, whether you’re going for breastfeeding, bottle, or formula, as well as around sleep. Those two things are really critical, and very related. In those early days, Mom is going through so many physical changes, hormonal changes, then the feeding and the sleep start. So we typically see that as the main focus: Making sure Mom is resting and not pushing herself too hard in those first weeks, and really supporting her in navigating the feeding journey. 

So you have a team of practitioners that are on hand to meet clients’ needs? 

Our team is made up of postnatal care specialists. Regardless of who you have working with you, whether at the retreat centre or in your home, all of us are trained with the same Mom-first, holistic approach. We don't provide medical care, but rather proactive wellness. That said, our team includes registered nurses, certified doulas, international midwives and lactation consultations, and all of them bring a wealth of expertise in maternal and infant care.

What kinds of feedback do you commonly receive from parents who have used your services?

‘This has been life-changing’ is something we hear a lot. I think families are surprised by just how good they can feel coming out of the postpartum period if they have the right support. It's a very pleasant surprise for people. Even though they’ve planned to have this support structure, once it's in place and they get to experience it, they’ll say it’s life-changing or that they've really leveled up as parents, or they can't believe that they actually feel rested.

Article written by Jodie Shupac