Hidden Gems: Meet Louise Perry of The Grove Mother-Centered Wellness

Today we’d like to introduce you to Louise Perry

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I have been supporting women in their transition into motherhood for 15 years in the Gunnison Valley. I have been a doula, birth educator, midwife assistant and now a licensed social worker, offering psychotherapy for mothers specializing in maternal mental health. My story begins when I felt a deep longing to support a woman during one of the most extradorindary times in her life-labor & birth.

During this time, I also became acutely aware of how the medical care system can often instill fear and disempowerment in many new parents. As they navigate the entirely new experience of childbirth, they may struggle to feel capable of asking questions, understanding their options, and receiving the support they need from their healthcare providers. My role as doula feel complicated as I was pulled to help parents cultivate a strong support system in order to feel empowered throughout the process, which felt heavy and hard. I also began to understand that a new mother’s wellbeing was not just dependent on her and her baby’s physical health but also her mental and emotional state, which is directly impacted by how she is treated with in her birth experience and the early days, weeks and years of the postpartum period.

But with my training being primarily focused on the physical aspects of a mother’s experience (labor and birth physiology, comfort measures etc.) I did not know how to support the complicated emotional experience of mothers along with understanding the social systems, cultural norms, and expectations that play in a role in a mothers experience. Therefore I took a slight pivot in my career and earned a Master’s in Social Work to become more equipped in supporting mothers by using a larger lens that includes social justice, equality, and learning to listen to the unique emotional experiences of each mother.

Long story short, in earning a MSW at the same time of becoming pregnant myself at the beginnings of the pandemic, I began deeply to understand the hardest part of motherhood in modern times-isolation. It has become a norm for mothers to be home alone for long hours a day with their new baby, often because their partner is working, we live far from family and as a society we have dwindled the family unit to one care provider- dismissing the idea it takes a village to raise a baby entirely.

Mothering alone has become a normal and expected experience, so much so mothers feel shame when they feel lonely or bored rather than questioning social expectations, which further drives in the isolation. This perspective allows us to understand why perinatal mood disorders such as postpartum depression are so prevalent.

As I began to practice therapy with mothers, this isolation showed up in every therapy session. Whether it was in the form of physical isolation or feeling alone in the messiness of motherhood, I realized mothers were so alone in their experience and it is does not work. So I had to do something. When I was in the belly of the whale as a new mom, feeling that isolation so intensely, I just wanted a place to go when I felt heard and seen, be comforted my other mothers. Thus began my vision of The Grove.

The Grove is intentionally designed space that is both mother-centered and child-centered. It’s mission to help bring back the village as an essential need to support the wellbeing of new mothers and dismantle the notions that mothers should mother alone in privacy and that being a mother, in essence, is a deeply public and communal event.

My journey in supporting mothers always began from a social standpoint, in that I knew supporting mothers had to come in the form of changing our expectations rather than blaming mothers for their own distress. The Grove represents a new way of supporting mothers in modern times, it’s a third space, with fostering meaningful connection as its main purpose.

The Grove offers classes, workshops and opportunities to promotes alloparenting. Mothers have the opportunity to be witnessed, held, and supported by other mothers along with mothering together. Children also need to be on the receiving end of feeling cared for by others. If we want to side step isolation we have to side step independence and embody interdependence.

It has been so amazing to offer this service to my community. Life changing truly. It feels like I am making a real difference.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I have felt incredibly supported in my vision. I think this is because people believe in my mission. At this point, most of are becoming aware of the isolation in our lives. It’s doesn’t work. We are seeing how isolation has created high levels of depression, anxiety, and even suicide. We are not meant to live our lives in silos, we are meant to have consistent social connection and without it we are only surviving rather than thriving.

However, while my mission is valued, I am running a one woman show and to make The Grove truly successful I need to incorporate my own mission: it takes a village to help others build their villages. I want those who utilize The Grove to feel a sense of ownership of the space, therefore asking for help will always be apart of the running a business like this.

We’ve been impressed with The Grove Mother-Centered Wellness, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The Grove has been intentionally designed with the wellbeing of mothers in mind. It’s a home away from home, where you can tap-out so that you can tap-in, allowing for both relaxation and a place of meaningful connection.

The Grove offers a warm, safe and inviting space for both mothers and their little humans. At The Grove mothers can enjoy a warm cup of tea with other mothers while allowing their little ones to play in our play area.

The Grove has weekly programming with classes and workshops that foster social connection and wellbeing for the early years of conception and motherhood. At the heart of our programming is Babes by the Fire, which is a structured play date to allow moms to get out of their house and meet other moms and combat isolation.

What were you like growing up?
From a young age, I was always interested in helping others and aspired to be a change maker. I loved learning about important historical events that lead to significant change. I remember as early as elementary school, I wanted to learn as much as I could about the civil rights movement and people like Ghandi, Mother Theresa, and Princess Diana.

Friendship was also a major part in my life from early on. I would always say I am not good things like sports, art, or science and math but I am good at being a friend. Still to this day, friendship it the most important thing to me and will always be a priority.

I also love learning about history and understand why things happen, which is still remains to be a major influence in my life, especially with working with mothers. As our experience is deeply shaped my our history both personally and socially. This interest in history also nourishes my love for travel and adventure too. I love learning about other people around the world and I am very much energized my meeting new people!

Lastly, next to my love of friends are dogs. My dog companions are a huge part of my life and I have always felt closely connected to these animals and our symbiotic relationship. My favorite outdoor activity is taking my dog, Patches for walks.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thegrovemotherwellness.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegrovemothercenteredwellness
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61569581439867

Image Credits
Jennifer Swift for all photos