Editor’s Note: Maternal Wellness Deserves the Same Attention as Sleep and Movement
It's time maternal wellness had a real home in the wellness conversation, not a separate corner of the internet.
August is National Wellness Month, and this year it gets me thinking about what still isn't part of the conversation: maternal wellness. It's a topic close to me personally, and one I've wanted to bring into this space for a while.
We talk about what wellness is at The Sectional, and ways to simplify what it truly means, but one of the biggest transitions a body goes through rarely gets the same attention. Fertility, pregnancy, postpartum recovery, motherhood, pregnancy loss—these tend to live in their own corner of the internet, separate from everything else. If wellness is about understanding our bodies and building habits that support them, this belongs here, too.
Photo credit: Jeferson Santu
Maternal wellness isn't only about pregnancy. It's understanding your body long before you ever try to conceive. It's nutrition that supports fertility without adding more pressure. It's the physical and emotional realities of postpartum recovery, pregnancy loss, and the care that often gets left out of that conversation entirely.
It's motherhood itself, the version that keeps going long after the nine months end. It's sleep, movement, mental health, and community. None of that fits into one neat category, which is exactly why it deserves the same thoughtful, honest attention we give everything else.
Photo credit: Nappy
There are people already doing this work well, and they've impacted how I think about maternal wellness. Dr. Sara Bloom built Mavie to guide women through pregnancy and postpartum nutrition and mental health. CRWNMAG's Borne initiative created Birthing While Black, a guide addressing the gaps in Black maternal health outcomes. Elaine Welteroth's birthFUND connects families with midwifery care. And here in Atlanta, Peri is building community and practical support for new parents. I've learned something from each of them, and I wanted you to know their names too.
So consider this an invitation. Maternal wellness has a home here now, not as a one-off feature, but as part of the ongoing conversation, alongside everything else we cover. Whatever stage you're in—trying to conceive, expecting, recovering, or somewhere in between—I hope you'll find something useful here.
Glad to have you here.
