We were lucky to catch up with Tina Branch recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

The idea for my business, Project Motherhood Iowa, came out of necessity. By April 2022, I had suffered three back-to-back miscarriages. My first miscarriage in February 2021 shocked me. Miscarriage is one of those things that you don’t think of happening to you until it does. It was an early loss, and I had my family and close friends to comfort me. Although it hurt, I kept being told that “it wasn’t even a baby yet” or “you can just try again, it’s no big deal”… so I felt I had to move on quickly and get over it. My husband and I got pregnant again a few months later, but by August 2021 we had lost our daughter right before 12 weeks. We learned it was chromosomal, she had Turner syndrome. At the time I was stressed out. We were living with my mother-in-law in her 2-bedroom apartment because our lease ended in August, I was in the process of trying to purchase our first home, and in the midst of it all I lost my uncle – who was like a father to me – while I was in surgery for the D&C. We didn’t have as much support as the first time around.

We moved forward and in January 2022 we found out we were expecting again. This pregnancy went smoothly, and I was excited because I was due around my birthday, and I had always wanted a birthday baby. I had lots of family and friends who were expecting too so I had “belly buddies” to experience pregnancy with – something I never got to experience before. On April 18th, 2022, I went in for a routine checkup and discovered that my son no longer had a heartbeat. I was almost 20 weeks pregnant. His cord wrapped around his neck a few days before. This was a different experience because I had to birth him physically. From the moment I came home from the hospital and the weeks following, there was such a lack of empathy, compassion, and understanding that I just couldn’t handle it all. I spent so much time trying to tiptoe around the feelings of those around me that I neglected my own and I didn’t even realize I was suffering from perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs).

On May 15th, 2022, I tried to take my life due to suffering from postpartum depression. It only got more difficult and lonelier from there. I was ostracized and misunderstood by my family because they didn’t understand what I was going through. There is still so much ignorance surrounding perinatal mental health. When we talk about postpartum depression, we only associate it with sadness, and not bonding with the baby. We don’t talk about the rage, the anxiety, the panic attacks, the PTSD… miscarriage and PMADs are still taboo topics, and we have a community of mothers and families suffering alone. I was ignorant too until I experienced it myself and then I had so many people reaching out to me sharing how they went through the same experience. So, out of a need to make sense of everything I was going through, to bring a purpose to the loss of life, and out of a need for the families in my community, Project Motherhood IA was born.

Tina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Tina Branch. I have been with my husband, Nigel Branch, for 10 years. We have five children on earth and four angel babies. I am the Co-Owner of The Olive Branch Day Center, an enrichment center for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, with my husband. I am also the owner of Project Motherhood IA, where I provide resources & support for women of color & their families to help them understand & overcome maternal mental health disorders. I got into this industry because I saw a need, specifically within the Black community, after my own experience with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.

Project Motherhood IA helps women of color and their families who are suffering from and affected by perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. We bring awareness to the warning signs of postpartum depression, and through our partnerships with hospitals, mental health workers, and doulas, we connect you to the help you need. What I am proud of myself for most is being able to provide peer-facilitated support groups to help in areas such as postpartum depression, infertility, miscarriage, and infant or child loss. My goal is to provide families with the support they need to heal and thrive. By providing a safe space filled with compassion, love, and understanding I hope to accomplish that.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

Project Motherhood started as an online community to share encouragement, resources, and support. It was never intended to be a business, but the more I spoke with other women who had gone through the same thing the more I realized how much it was needed. I found myself having long conversations with them, just allowing them to vent and relate to what they were going through. I had friends and associates who experienced miscarriages, both men and women, who would contact me for advice and emotional support. After a while, I had some asking me to make it a regular thing – having these discussions and supporting each other through healing. I realized that the online peer support groups didn’t offer the type of support we were looking for, and it was filled with too much negativity. I expanded Project Motherhood to be a peer-support group but realized it could encompass so much more.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

I’ve found that the most effective way to grow my clientele has been through public speaking engagements and social media. I find that a lot of people can relate to some part of my story, and they will come up to me to talk and learn more about my business. Lately, I have been building my social media presence and connecting with people through TikTok and Facebook. I’m also working on a partnership with the area hospitals and mental health clinics, which will also increase clientele.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://projectmotherhood.co/
• Facebook: facebook.com/projectmotherhood.ia
• Instagram: instagram.com/projectmotherhood.ia
• TikTok: tiktok.com/@project_motherhood

Image Credits
Keesha Ward – Ward Creative Studios