Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Carley Schweet. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Carley, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

After the birth of my first child, I was blindsided by what life would look like after birth. I didn’t realize how much there was to know about navigating healing from birth and caring for a baby, not to mention the enormous impact a baby has on your relationships. While I thought I was doing the right thing by only preparing for birth, in hindsight, I wish that I had prepared more for what life would look like with a baby at home.

Through my research and experiences, I learned there is a name for this time: postpartum. While many people typically associate the word ‘postpartum’ with postpartum depression, it is defined as “a period after birth.” This time is fleeting (but also lasts forever) and can be one of the trickiest phases of a mother’s life. There is little to no support in our traditional healthcare system in the US, and I knew it was an area that deserved a lot more attention.

So, Hello Postpartum was born. Pun is fully intended.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

When someone is pregnant, they have anywhere from 10-15 appointments with their doctor or care team. After birth? Just one, maybe two, if they’re lucky. After the birth of my son, I was astounded by the lack of postpartum care in the United States, and the 20-minute “class” on postpartum during my pregnancy wasn’t enough. In my late-night Googling sessions, I was shocked that I couldn’t find a website with expert-written articles and resources all in one spot.

So, I set out to build it in the summer of 2020. We have over 300 articles and 150+ contributors in just three years, reaching over 150,000 families monthly on our website. Our Instagram community has grown to 26k members and growing daily.

On hellopostpartum.com, you’ll find articles from Ob-GYNS, midwives, nutritionists, doulas, pelvic floor physical therapists, and more. We feature differing schools of thought (so you can form your opinion on what works for YOU!), stories and opinion pieces, and research-backed articles. On top of all of our free articles, we also offer six expert-written eBooks covering various important postpartum topics like mental health, nutrition, hormones, c-section recovery, and more. These books contain all the information on what you *should* receive from your hospital (but probably don’t).

For me, the most exciting project we recently worked on is our Postpartum Shop. This shop is packed full of postpartum recovery essentials, self-care favorites, and motherhood gifts for those who are expecting (or know someone who is). What makes our Postpartum Shop extra unique is that most of the products are unavailable on Amazon and, instead, are sourced from small businesses worldwide.

Ultimately, I hope that Hello Postpartum becomes a hub for postpartum resources for new parents so they can feel less alone in this (very) intense and often intimidating phase of life and more empowered and supported. There is so much to know about this time, and the more we talk about the hard stuff, the more we can normalize what a challenging postpartum experience can be. Plus, life after birth is often glossed over and downplayed by society, making any new parent feel like a failure when they don’t have that “easy” experience. I’m here to share the truth about postpartum so new parents can feel prepared and ready to navigate this phase of life.

I want every person who is pregnant or supporting someone who is to understand that postpartum matters. And as I always say, everyone prepares for birth, but no one prepares for postpartum. It’s time to change that.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I’ll be honest: I don’t chase Instagram trends. You’ll hardly find me sharing reels or creating content daily. Instead, I try to hone in on what our community struggles with or what might be on their mind. I strive to share honest truths that someone might be thinking but feels like they can’t say out loud. It’s been these honest, supportive, and raw posts that have allowed our Instagram community to grow rapidly.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

Currently, we sell on our website using Woocommerce. As we are a media company first and rely heavily on organic Google traffic, we wanted to ensure that our articles and blog posts would always remain front and center. Hosting our eCommerce store on our current website – vs. Etsy, Shopify, etc. – would allow us to keep our existing domain authority and hopefully transfer some of that “juice” to the products listed on our website. We still have a LOT to learn about this process and hope to continue growing our shop. :)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://hellopostpartum.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/hellopostpartum
• Other: https://hellopostpartum.com/shop https://hellopostpartum.com/e-books

Image Credits
Headshot: Talitha Bullock