Welcome to Nurture Wellness

Hi I'm Jodie the founder of Nurture Wellness. Originally a Northern lass I moved to Canterbury eight years ago and now live with my husband and two children. I love yoga, mindfulness, reading and you will usually find me having a kitchen disco with my family. 

I started Nurture Wellness six years ago after having my son. What we do at Nurture Wellness has evolved over time, along with my journey as a parent and changing priorities and values. 

After finding the transition of becoming a parent difficult I welcomed the support of my husband, Health Visitors and mother and baby groups to help make the journey easier. What became important to me and helped me to make sense of what I was experiencing was the connection to others, many of who I found inspiring as they had overcome similar challenges which made me see that what I was experiencing was only a moment in time, things would get better. The final piece of the jigsaw that really helped me was learning about Matrescence, I felt empowered as what comes with knowledge is the ability to understand and make changes.  I wanted to use my experience as a way of helping others which is why I became a Beyond Birth : Mindful Early Parenting Practitioner, so I can offer a variety of groups for mums and dads during pregnancy and parents throughout their parenting journey to hopefully make their journey easier and more enjoyable. 

As well as my own personal experience of becoming a parent, research shows that perinatal mental illness is common. Approximately 1 in 10 mums and 1 in 10 dads develop Postnatal Depression within the first year of having their baby. Unfortunately within the first year after giving birth, suicide is the main cause of death in mums. Stigma still prevents parents from accessing support or even talking about how they are really feeling so I hope through the work we do we can help eradicate stigma. 

My prior work experience includes supporting adults and families to live happier, safer lives through family support, drug and alcohol recovery and safeguarding in education. I am an MHFA England Instructor Member, I have a Degree in Childhood Studies along with other qualifications to support me in working with children and families including The Solihull Approach to Parenting. This has helped to build my knowledge and confidence in holding a safe space for people so they can reflect, make changes and grow. 

To me preparing mentally for having a baby is just as important as preparing physically whether it's your first, second or third child. After all our mental health determines how we feel, think, behave, see the world, approach life and how we parent. If we want to be the best parent we can be, we need to think about how this journey is going to impact us mentally and have tools ready that we can use to safeguard our mental health. 

We hope that through our work parents will feel more connected to themselves so they understand the signs and symptoms of when their mental health is starting to decline, they feel connected to others so they don't feel alone in their journey, the feel empowered by the knowledge they have which will help them to look after their mental health and they feel inspired to keep their cup full so they can be the parent they want to be.

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