#Interview with Namita Mahanama, author of My Mummy After Our Baby: A Journey of Hope and Healing

Author Namita Mahanama seeks to bring awareness of postpartum depression in a new and loving way with her book My Mummy After Our Baby: A Journey of Hope and Healing. Take a sneak peek inside and get to know the author a little better in this interview. Be sure to follow the tour for more and check out the great giveaway!

My Mummy After Our Baby: A Journey Of Hope and Healing is a beautifully written and illustrated story, about the reality of post-natal depression setting in after the birth of their perfect little baby.

It is a gentle, soft, perfectly put together story, filled with an abundance of emotion and heart to explain what is happening at home, for all children who may be feeling lost and confused about what is happening to their Mummy after becoming unwell.

It is written by a mother who experienced this twice herself and vowed to create a beautiful explanation and tool, in order to provide hope, solace and strength for other families, that she wished was available for her children.

This beautiful book is written in the hope of educating, as well as to be a connective and bonding tool, at a time when a family needs it the most. It is gently and eloquently written, with the most amazing illustrations, that will form the basis of a vital healing tool in the home of everyone who is going through this harrowing chapter.

The author has brought the prospect of hope in a perfect package here and is her gift to you and your family, to navigate through this chapter with as much peace and lightness as possible.

Read an excerpt:

The next day when Aydan went to school, his Mummy went into the hospital and after six hours of having a really sore tummy ache, she welcomed their beautiful little boy Kameron into the world! 

The sun shone brightly that day, the birds chirped happily and his Mummy and Daddy were crying with how grateful, happy and blessed they felt! Aydan had never seen his Mummy glow so brightly and he loved his brother instantly for giving that to her. 

Aydan had to be brave for a few days whilst his Mummy stayed in the hospital with Kameron to rest her body…but was so excited to welcome them back home. 

When his Mummy did come home, she was so happy to see Aydan that she cried and glowed all at the same time! Rupert was so excited too that he couldn’t stop wagging his tail and cuddling his Mummy. It was perfection! 

The next morning, Aydan noticed his Mummy looked a bit tired and she wasn’t shining as brightly as he remembered. He cuddled her and told her just how much he loved and missed her. 

As the Autumn leaves started to fall down heavily over the next few days, Aydan looked at his Mummy and noticed that today her light had almost completely gone. Her smile, her glowing eyes, the light in her heart had almost completely disappeared and he felt so sad not knowing where they had all gone.

Get Your Copy of My Mummy After Our Baby

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Describe your book in one sentence or fewer than 25 words.

It is a gentle, soft, emotive book providing understanding of post-natal depression affecting a mother, with the prospect of hope that she will get better.

What was the inspiration behind this book?

It is an actual recount of our experience within our home, when I fell ill with post-natal depression on day 5 after giving birth until week 11, with my youngest son.

I wrote it as a way to bring compassion and understanding about PND to younger children, who may be feeling so lost and confused as to what is happening within the home. It was also written in order to give so much hope to them, as well as being a connective tool between mother and child to bring a softness in a condition that is so heart-wrenching.

Our family felt so alone when we went through it. I vowed upon my recovery that I would do everything I could to create support tools, in order to help other families, navigate through their journey with more ease and resources than we did.

The silver lining of our suffering, is the prospect of offering help to others.

Which character was your favorite to write?

It was definitely Aydan, who was based on my eldest son Ari. I felt so proud of him when I wrote this book and every time I read this book!. Proud of his courage…strength…resilience and his unconditional love. 

His unconditional love for me and his patience in waiting for me to recover, fill my heart with so much gratitude and he has been my greatest teacher thus far.

Writing his character has filled my heart with so much pride, joy and gratitude of all that he is and for holding my hand towards my recovery. He gave me my ‘why’ to hold on and to keep fighting another day. 

To which character did you relate the most?

The character of the mother, is written as me…so definitely her! I based her character, her feelings, her light during pregnancy, post-birth and once I had recovered on exactly how I was feeling and what I experienced in my wellness and my illness.

When I read the book, it brings me back to the moments of darkness but also to the moment I recovered; and I get filled with the exact same emotions of joy and gratitude that I felt at that time.

Her savouring every being in her home and every moment in her life after she ‘sparked back to life’, reminds me every time I read it, how divine that moment was, and how grateful I am to be standing here today. It reminds me of why I need to share my story and my message of hope all across the globe, in this silent and very isolating dis-ease.

The world needs hope and the prospect of recovery to all families going through post-natal depression. I truly hope that my support tools completely change the narrative of the condition. 

What was one of your favorite scenes?

My favourite scene was the one when I woke that morning and had ‘come back to life’…It happened exactly the same way in real life that moment my biochemistry had sparked back in week 11. 

Aydan (my Ari), held me and sang me a beautiful Noongar song (Indigenous Aboriginal song that he had learned at school and sang on a Mother’s Day event), which went ‘Baby you are my heart…baby you are my heart…baby you are heart…my star…my love…my life’

I remember being able to feel emotion for the first time in 11 weeks, when my heart and brain-centre had come back…and I cried so many warm, heart-felt tears…It was a divine moment and I will remember that moment forever! 

What do you hope people will get out of your book?

My genuine hope is that children feel seen, not alone and are more understanding of the situation that is happening at home. I hope that it brings them the prospect of hope, that their Mummy will get better too, and that there is light at the end of the tunnel for all of them.

I want the silence within the home of not speaking about postnatal depression to completely be dispelled, and to be filled with kindness, compassion, empathy and understanding.

I want the narrative to completely change, and for no other woman or family to feel embarrassed or ashamed about her condition. I want her know that she can and will recover from this, and that her children are patiently waiting for her with unconditional love for this to happen.

My hope is that it is a healing tool for every single member within the home and to soften their hearts about the situation.

Tell us about your other published works.

My other book titled Shining The Light on PND – The Journey from Darkness to Healing From Postnatal Depression, is a support tool for other women and their partners who are going through postnatal depression.

It is a sharing of my story of post-natal depressions with both of my boys, how I tried to not get it the second time, all of my learnings and reflections. I share my points about medication and hormones from my pharmacist perspective, points about self-talk, mindsets, as well as strategies to help the mother (and her partner) to get through her PND from a Western medicine perspective and my Eastern Ayurveda, yoga teacher knowledge and paediatric massage qualifications to help.

It was designed to be completely transparent as to what PND can look and feel like day-to-day, so that others can relate, and also if they are sitting on the fence not knowing if they have PND, that my brutally raw story may make it very clear what it can look like. 

It also was designed to have practical steps to apply, when a mother asks the question ‘I have postnatal depression, now what?’

I wrote it to literally shine the light on a condition that is filled with so much darkness, and as a first step in smashing through the stigma and untrue misconceptions surrounding it.

I am making it my life’s purpose to be of service and to completely change the narrative of PND; where we no longer feel alone, cast aside or wrong in experiencing it. I am here to offer the message of hope, that recovery is possible and that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

A message that I so desperately needed when I was in the thick of it.

On what are you currently working?

I am currently creating an Ayurvedic cookbook, with lots of nutrition information for pregnancy and post-partum from an Ayurvedic perspective.

It is a different style of writing and creation no doubt! Yet, together with my books, my sound healings/meditations, I want to offer another tool to help nourish and rejuvenate her body during a period of change and to apply the principles from the kitchen pharmacy to support her body, mind and soul.

I am excited!

What is one skill you wish you had?

I wish I could sing! I would love that more than anything to be an amazing singer and get up on stage and sing my heart out.

What would you do if you won the lottery?

If I won the lottery, I would first get a live-in nanny and maid to be my right and left hand! Go on a world trip with my family.

Then, I would use the funds to set up wellness centres for women with post-natal depression to come and live in, that feel ‘not clinical’ in nature, have Ayurvedic meals, Ayurvedic treatments, psychologist and psychiatrist care, teaching infant massage, have sound healings and meditations and for it to be a fully immersive experience of healing at a time where we need our tribe…and is not there. 

I would have these centres across the globe, and would advocate for having them in every city! 

Since money was no object, I would utilise my time to pitch to all government bodies about the need for maternal care and to spread my message of advocating for support and change in perinatal mental health. 

This would enable me to live with passion, purpose, and to utilise my skills/life for something meaningful and important. 

Namita is a mother of two boys and draws upon her heart-wrenching first-hand experience of

post-natal depression, after the birth of both of her children. She is creating a myriad of support tools for women and their families, to navigate through their journeys of PND with as much ease and grace as possible.

Namita is a registered pharmacist who has qualifications in Ayurveda and Ayurveda Yoga teaching, as well as being a PMC (paediatric massage consultant) and CIMI (certified infant massage instructor). She draws upon her professional knowledge as well as her own experience, to be the support lifeline at a time when families need it the most.

Her intention is that she can be a beacon of hope and shine much-needed light, on the road

towards the mothers and the entire family’s healing and recovery. She hopes to inspire and uplift you through this chapter in your life.

Connect with Namita Mahanama

WEBSITE http://wholeistichealingco.com/ 

INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/whole_istichealingco/ 

GOODREADS https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22118373.Namita_Mahanama

Namita Mahanama will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway