Term 3 Program
Session 1, 28 July 2026
Welcome & Introduction
Welcome!
This first session is an opportunity to get to know each other, and to set our intentions for the group.
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Your babies and yourselves can get to know the space, I'll fix you a cup of tea, and I'll have conversation prompt cards if you feel drawn to use them.
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Please let me know if there's anything that would make your presence easier in this space. You can reach out to me at any time, whether you know your accommodations in advance or feel uneasy about something anytime after this first session.
Session 2, 4 August 2026
Ali Heppell
Your Matrescence Journey
Our first facilitated session will be all about embracing and leaning into the stage of life we're in: Matrescence, the whole-body, whole-brain, whole-life transformation of becoming a mother.
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Ali Heppell (Mothercare), a postpartum doula and matrescence educator, is passionate about building a mother’s resources and community and places the mother and her experiences at the centre of focus and importance. She's a warm and caring presence, and is a brilliant resource to guide you through your journey into motherhood.
Session 3, 11 August 2026
Our wonderful IBCLC Natasha has had to move her session to Week 5 due to unforeseen circumstances.
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So we will have another chance for unstructured socialising this week.
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We will also have a chance to share some other community supports and opportunities that exist in the Hills.
Session 4, 18 August 2026
Zoe Beck
Exercise & Return to Movement
We're joined this week by Zoe Beck of Zobelle Exercise Physiology & Wellbeing. Our focus will be on how to support our individual needs to return to movement in a way that is suitable, achievable, and sustainable, while considering the differences and challenges we may need to navigate in our daily lives with our baby (or children).
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Zoe has lived experience and deep passion for working with neurodivergent brain-bodies and chronic illness (which often overlap). While she often works with older populations lately, she has considerable expertise in recovering after surgery and returning to day-to-day activities, and in elements such as pacing, safety, and individualised advice. She's incredibly passionate and incredibly knowledgeable in her field.
International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) Natasha Allen-Hallyburton joins us this week to share her wisdom and offer her support for your feeding journey, whether via breast, bottle or both, whether your concerns are latching, pain, milk supply or overstimulation, and from finding your rhythm to considering your weaning strategy.
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Natasha has over 20 years of supporting women through their breastfeeding journey. She brings her personal and professional experience of breastfeeding with ADHD, postnatal depression and anxiety, and being a mother of three breastfed children to her practice, and is a safe, comforting, and genuine support.
Session 5, 25 August 2026
Natasha Allen-Hallyburton
Feeding Your Baby
Session 6, 1 September 2026
Libby Maitland
Mothering in Your Body
This week we have Libby Maitland, from Tiger in the Teapot Yoga and Occupational Therapy. Libby brings with her a wide array of skills, including multiple therapeutic approaches as well as yoga and mindfulness skills. I'm told she's a wonderful singer, as well! Occupational therapy is a broad field, supporting individuals to do whatever it is they do in their daily life. It's a great fit for the breadth of scope involved in motherhood coaching and support. Libby's practice is rooted in a neuroaffirming, trauma-informed, strengths-based approach. She works with new parents, supporting challenges with the transition to parenting, family dynamics, nervous system regulation, community participation, and more.
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The session structure this week will be a little different, starting off with a gentle, accessible yoga practice, including some optional baby massage, and then moving into our usual discussion format with the topic focused on navigating the occupation of motherhood - the struggles with the transition and all it brings up, and the ways mothering exists in our bodies.
Session 7, 8 September 2026
Charlotte Ingram
Feeding the Family
In early motherhood (and in fact in all stages), talking about "feeding" really should include the nourishing of the mother alongside the ways she chooses to feed her baby. Later on, challenges around feeding might relate to those affecting the whole family. Whether it's meeting the sensory and dietary requirements of all members of the family, the weight of the mental load of arranging 3+ meals every. single. day., dopamine-seeking via food or just plain forgetting to eat, there are so many very common ways that the seemingly simple task of getting everybody fed can be a challenging, exhausting, and overwhelming endeavour - especially for neurodivergent brains.
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Enter Charlotte Ingram, this week's special guest and a qualified naturopath and remedial massage therapist. Charlotte's passion is in supporting pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care, with a wealth of knowledge in evidence-based herbal medicine, and in dietary and lifestyle support. She has extensive experience supporting autistic + ADHD folk (both women/AFAB and children), and a large part of her practice is in helping clients navigating the mental and sensory load of food, as central to the goal of providing compassionate, holistic health care.
Session 8, 15 September 2026
Elky Graham
Creativity in Motherhood
This is our final session and we have something really special for you before we finish up the term. Elky Graham is a warm, thoughtful soul. She has never had a dedicated creative practice, but has always felt like a creative person. She has been on a journey of finding her voice, and slowly mustering the courage to sing in front of others. This only happened through finding supportive spaces, and thus, in her matrescence, Heart Spark was born - an event for mothers to be heard, seen, and supported in their creativity.
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Elky will guide us in discussion of what creativity looks like in motherhood - about the possibilities, practicalities, and practices of creativity in motherhood. We are all inherently creative beings as humans - and especially as mothers, who have literally created a being within our bodies. There are infinite ways to explore and demonstrate our creativity as individuals and as mothers, whether it's the creativity to come up with daily activities to entertain and inspire our bubs, to sing invented lullabies and cleaning-up ditties, to clothe our children in sewn or knitted pieces, to cook or bake nourishing goodies, or to explore with more traditional artistic practices the expansion of matrescence and its contradictions through word, paint, voice, or beyond.
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In this session, we also invite you to bring something of your own creative offering (or someone else's that resonates). Examples may include a piece of art or writing created before your child arrived, a rhythm you can't stop clapping and tapping, a recipe you developed to meet your needs right now, a poem you stumbled on that just spoke directly to your soul, a pondered thought during a 3am feed, or something totally different.
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There is no pressure to bring or to share, and you are welcome to change your mind either way in the moment - the act of witness is in itself a valued and meaningful contribution.
