Mountain Mama's Cafe provides support for new mothers

Becoming a new mother is a very emotionally and physically vulnerable experience. In places like the Gunnison Valley, it can be hard to find a group of other new mothers to share your experiences with. That’s why Kelsey Weaver, OB manager at Gunnison Valley Health, started Mountain Mama's Cafe: a free community group that serves as a safe space for new mothers.

Weaver founded Mountain Mama’s with the help of doula Charlotte Brielle as a breastfeeding support group where new mothers could learn to breastfeed in a free, safe, and understanding environment, and then passed the event on to maternal-child coordinator Jennifer Brennise. They offer support for both breastfeeding and formula feeding, while also building confidence to feed their babies out in the world and reducing stigma.

“Women don’t breastfeed in public that much anymore,” Weaver said. “I hope that since starting Mountain Mama's that it’s going to get more normalized in our community because I think that you should feel like you’re part of the community, and if you want to feed your baby out in the world you should feel safe to do so.”

It has since expanded into a broader community of postpartum and pregnancy support, where moms go to ask questions, find resources, and feel heard and seen. The Gunnison Valley doesn’t offer many resources or social programs for new mothers, and it can feel isolating and overwhelming. Hormonal shifts can bring anxiety, sadness, paranoia, and joy separately or even all at once. Mountain Mama's provides a safe place to talk about complex and “scary” feelings with other people going through similar situations, without judgment, and works to normalize asking for help and to remind mothers that their thoughts and questions are worth discussing with a provider.

“I think it is a mistake to make postpartum seem precious and only full of light,” Weaver said. “It’s a difficult time, one we should help mothers understand is worthy of preparation.”

Weaver expressed that there is such a strong emphasis on the delivery of the baby that the intensity of the postpartum experience is rarely considered, and that it is a time for visitors and family to take care of the mother aggressively.

“Their home needs to be cleaned, their fridge needs to be filled with their favorite foods, their water pitcher should be filled,” Weaver said. “The individual does not change when they become a mother, but the ways they care for themselves are less available as bringing a baby with them is now often necessary.”

Mountain Mama’s offers not only specialized feeding support, but also works directly with doula Emily Montesinos and Louise Perry at The Grove, as well as having resources at Lighthouse Pregnancy Center and The Gunnison Country Food Pantry, to make sure that new and expecting mothers have the resources they need to set them up for success. Moms can attend while pregnant and after birth, no matter how many children they’ve had, and can keep coming back for as long as they want.

“I have seen moms who have their first baby and keep coming to sessions, and then they’re having their second baby, and they come back for a couple of years,” Weaver said. “The beauty of that is then you get to kind of be a ‘mom mentor’ for the other moms that are brand new to the group.”

Mountain Mama’s is funded by GVH’s foundation and the Community Foundation of the Gunnison Valley, but if locals would like to support the group, they can donate to either foundation, specifying that the funds go toward Mountain Mama’s or related services, such as events, doula services, and ongoing group costs and supplies.

“If there are ever funds donated, we probably end up using them for events that we have at Mountain Mama’s,” Weaver said. “For example, the Spanish Mountain Mama’s group loves to have community baby showers. So we do our best to set up a party. We’ll get party supplies, extra food, and help people gather donations of baby items like diapers and furniture and stuff. If they tell us they want to do something, then we try to support that vision.”

Mountain Mama’s has three free, confidential group meetings per week: sessions at The Grove Mother-Centered Wellness in Gunnison from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Mondays for English speakers and Wednesdays for Spanish speakers. They also have a session on Fridays from 10 a.m. to noon at the Oh Be Joyful Church in Crested Butte.

“Anyone can drop in at any time; there’s no commitment,” Weaver said. “Show up, stay for as long as you like.”