Another fellow founder, entrepreneur, and friend is Grace Barrow Piper, MSN, MPH, RN, founder of Maison D’Enfants. Holly met Grace after the birth of her second child, and Grace was incredibly kind and helpful in helping Holly navigate the newborn stage as a mom of two. Years later, Holly is still using the Maison D’Enfants “Anytime Sitter” offering!
At Wellhatched, we feel strongly about supporting families through birth and beyond – and we love what Grace and her team at MDE are doing to support and educate new families.
Why did you start Maison D’Enfants (MDE)?
In Australia, my home country, we have incredible parental support options – not only for mothers, but also for women who are interested in starting a family. While government funded healthcare plays a huge part in this, as a society, we have been raised to approach and support birth differently. The midwifery model of care is what most birthing mothers experience in Australia, with OBs and Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialists coming into the picture only when necessary. Postpartum care in Australia consists of ongoing weekly check ups and easily accessible community centers that provide lactation support, well-baby checks, and postpartum checks for mums.
I moved to New York City in 2017. As a maternal health and pediatric healthcare professional, I wanted to understand the prenatal and postpartum support options for women. Immediately, I saw a monumental care gap in the services offered to NYC families. I saw a huge need to provide exemplary long-lasting support to new families throughout their entire postpartum journey – not just pregnancy and birth – and so, MDE was born. We specialize in pregnancy + birth support, postpartum + newborn care, lactation + feeding support, and ongoing child care.
What do you love about your job?
Every day I have the honor of journeying side by side expecting or new parents. There is something so special about being able to support a human being during their most vulnerable moments – whether that be during pregnancy, birth, postpartum or the tough years that parenting young children bring. Our MDE motto is, “it takes a village.” We all need support – especially new parents and especially new parents in NYC who may not have family close by. Being able to join parents on their parenting journey brings me so much joy!
What are you most excited about for 2023?
Oh goodness, so many incredible things are happening for MDE in 2023! If I had to pick just one, I would say I am most excited to see our online MDE Portal completely up and running – providing our families (and staff!) a more streamlined experience to book sitting sessions, share notes about their children/family dynamics, view sitter profiles, educate themselves through our online classroom, and more! In 2023 we will also be adding our online course offerings to the portal and expanding our classroom offerings. Big things to come!
What is your favorite resource for intended parents?
Given the world we live in now and the lack of time intended parents have on a daily basis, I think Instagram can be a great resource for quick, easily-digestible tips and tricks! Of course, with all social media, each source must be vetted to make sure the information is coming from a professional, but if it is, Instagram can be a great resource for all things pregnancy, postpartum and new parent life! I love following @themidwifeisin (CNM), @solidstarts (pediatric MDs),@karrie_locher (RN, CLC), and of course, @wellhatched!
For foundational education, my favorite resource is hands down our education course offerings in newborn care and childbirth. Society teaches us close to nothing when it comes to what to expect during pregnancy, birth and postpartum. Most of the families MDE supports have no idea where to start and feel completely overwhelmed welcoming a child into this world. Our Comprehensive Childbirth Education Course, taught by our Perinatal Team Lead, Julia Crawford, is designed to empower and educate birthing parents on all aspects of the birthing process. Our Newborn Care Course, taught by our newborn care specialists, covers all the basics to support parents from the moment baby lays on their chest, to bringing baby home, baby’s first bath, traveling with baby and more! Both of these courses were created to help parents thrive in their perinatal season.
Maison D’Enfants is one of the many curated resources we have to support our clients. Our priority is to make sure our clients feel fully supported no matter what path to parenthood they choose.
