We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lanna Koop and Danielle Montgomery . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lanna and Danielle below.
Lanna and Danielle, appreciate you joining us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?
Yes most definitely. It was when we both first became moms. Our postpartum experiences were different, each with their own unique struggles.
Lanna’s postpartum experience: My postpartum experience consisted of a long recovery from a 4th degree tear, attending pelvic floor therapy sessions in the thick of early postpartum. My husband only had 5 days paternity leave, and we don’t family near by, yet we didn’t ask for help. Our daughter was not gaining weight in those first three weeks and we had to go to our pediatrician’s office for frequent weight checks. The problem was, we were not assisted in making a plan or being referred out to any specialists. We just felt the pressure to figure it out. A wonderful lactation consultant came to our house and just made minor changes to our latch and gave me a plan to follow. After this, our daughter had gained beautifully at our next weight check. However, we did continue to have nursing and bottle feeding challenges due to an undiagnosed lip and tongue tie that we ended up having released at 4 months old. I was diagnosed with Thyroid cancer in that first year postpartum and experienced a lot of anxiety and panic attacks surrounding two major surgeries and uncertainty of my diagnosis as well as navigating being away from our daughter for the first time.
Danielle is a mother of two and has the experience of adjusting to having two children. Some of what she has experienced is: I was recovering from Covid and birth which made it difficult to gain strength and energy back while being a first time mom. I was also getting through the anxiety of a health situation (brain blood clot scare) at 34 weeks pregnant which left me in the hospital for 4 days thinking I was having my daughter six weeks early or staying there until she was born. Luckily this was not the case, but once the adrenaline of the situation wore off, the anxiety kicked in. When my second child was born, I stressed whether or not my first born felt loved still through the new transition of having a baby brother. I stressed about if my toddler was being “gentle” with my newborn. I was also dealing with figuring out all of my son’s feeding issues and going to the right providers. He had a tongue tie, reflux, milk protein allergy, floppy airway, and fluid in his ears. Navigating all those appointments, but still taking postpartum slow was difficult. I would stress out if he was choking on his reflux while in the bassinet Navigating life as a new family of 4 has been a journey for us.
We both experienced First time mom anxiety. The anxiety that comes when putting baby down to sleep and making sure that she was still breathing. The anxiety over others watching her and that they were doing “all the things” correctly. Finding time for our husbands and ourselves while being new parents transitioning into our new roles. Lastly, navigating day to day while sleep deprived and postpartum recovery.
Yes our challenges were different, but we both experienced firsthand the lack of comprehensive support during this huge transition into parenthood. We felt blindsided by the lack of transparency into what the postpartum time really entails. AND how there should be much more emphasis on preparing for this 4th trimester, in regards to resources and support, in order to have the most healing recovery and bonding time with baby. In addition, all the other things that come with this role transition, such as sleep deprivation, feeding issues, postpartum recovery, mental health, and supporting your infants development.
Postpartum is a hard enough transition, and then when you are faced with certain scenarios that require special intervention or skilled providers, you have to advocate really hard for yourself and your baby to make those things happen. You have to put all the pieces together most times by yourself. It can feel very overwhelming and isolating.
Being a mom is our greatest blessing, and yet it is the hardest thing we have ever done. You will hear that a lot from parents. Both can be true at the same time. But the hard parts are excruciatingly harder when you are not prepared for them.
Our own challenges were our main motivator to specialize in this vulnerable time in a family’s life and be able to provide skilled services around the common challenges that are presented postpartum such as feeding difficulties, postpartum recovery, infant development, maternal mental health and all the little things in between.
A little background into OT. As Occupational Therapists, our primary goal is to help individuals participate in meaningful activities, known as occupations, that are essential for their health and well-being.
We knew that OT was perfectly suited to support this role transition. We wanted to specialize in this perinatal period to provide comprehensive support for the overall health and well-being of mom and baby.
We both have spent most of our careers in a pediatric clinic and school setting. Supporting the development of children and working closely with their families to provide education and empowerment. But what is so special about our transition to support the perinatal period, is we now have access to providing education and empowerment at the very beginning stages of life. We feel this is so important, being able to impact long term maternal and infant development from a proactive/wellness approach rather than a “wait and see” approach.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Lanna Koop, I’m an Occupational Therapist, Certified Breastfeeding Specialist, Yoga Teacher, and a mom. Danielle Montgomery, Occupational Therapist and a mom.
We both have spent our careers treating in a pediatric setting. When we both entered motherhood it sparked our interest in specializing in the perinatal period. Over the past few years we completed further training and founded Mama Be Well in 2023.
At Mama Be Well, our mission is to provide holistic and client-centered care to support the physical, emotional, and social well being of both mama and baby. The transition to motherhood comes with a lot of changes. A new role and new routines can be hard. As Maternal and Infant OTs, our primary goal is to help the mother and infant dyad participate in meaningful daily activities, known as occupations. Activities that take place between the mother and infant dyad are called co-occupations (feeding, bonding, sleep, infant development) The two are innately interconnected. The health and well being of one impacts the long term health of the other. A Maternal Health OT can evaluate, assess and intervene to optimize functioning in the mother-baby dyad.
We offer comprehensive therapy in addition to wellness services. Our therapy services focus on lactation and infant feeding, infant development, bodywork for both baby and mom, postpartum recovery, and maternal health. We also strongly believe in a proactive approach and offer a variety of wellness services. Pre and postnatal yoga, prenatal breastfeeding education, postpartum wellness planning, infant massage classes, and mom and baby groups.
Some of the reasons to work with us could be:
-Infant Feeding/development (We utilize a comprehensive and whole-body approach to address mother/infant feeding concerns)
-Difficulty latching at the breast/bottle
– Decreased endurance + strength required to feed
– Tongue + lip ties
– Falling asleep at the breast
– Bodywork for the mother|infant dyad
We are trained in Therapeutic Massage including neuromuscular and connective tissue techniques. Facilitates the participation in functional daily activities of the mother/infant dyad. Bodywork for mama: improves relaxation, mood, sleep +mobility, reduces pain, tension, + edema, and management of clogged ducts + milk. Body work for baby improves weight gain, feeding outcomes, sleep, immune function, regulation, bonding, and neuromotor development.
-Maternal Health
The transition to motherhood is hard. We provide tools and strategies for managing this new role and routines. We can help in promoting well-being, building support systems, help establish new routines, aide in postpartum recovery, provide ergonomic education, educate on infant-care techniques, and give home modifications.
We are most proud of listening to our calling and using our own experiences postpartum to now help others. There is a gap in comprehensive care during this time. As OT’s we are beautifully positioned to help fill this gap.
We are the skilled providers and on the ground, coming into your home and environment to provide family centered services and appropriate referrals when needed. Adjusting to a new role and all that comes along with caring for yourself and a new baby is overwhelming. We can support you throughout your pregnancy and postpartum period, offering continuity of care.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
We met working at a pediatric clinic and ironically Danielle covered for Lanna’s Maternity leave. We bonded over the fact that we both were from the Midwest and from rival schools! (Ohio State and Purdue). Danielle had her first baby shortly after and we often confided in each other about the ups and downs of motherhood. We met up on our days off with our girls and created our own little support circle with other mama co-workers. It was during this time that we started expressing our interest shifts and dreamed up Mama Be Well.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
Always having a desire to make connections with other people in the field (for us, providers that work with the perinatal population). We know that an interdisciplinary approach is best to support our moms and babies.
Remember you already have so much to offer. Your unique skill set is a gift to this world. Shine bright, keep putting one step in front of the other. Do not let impostor syndrome get the best of you.
You have to dive in and start somewhere. We both knew for a long time that this was something we would like to do. Stepping out of your comfort zone and just getting started is the hardest part. We think it’s important to approach a new venture with the attitude that everyone had to start from ground zero and you learn along the way. Always have a desire to learn.
Contact Info:
- Website: mama-bewell.com
- Instagram: mamabewell_ot
- Facebook: Mama Be Well