Today we’d like to introduce you to Nishe’e Moore.
Nishe’e, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am the oldest of five children… having to help my parents with their kids sort of atrophied the maternal desire some women get in their mid 20’s or 30’s. I never had baby fever. Then love and marriage gave way to a curiosity I’d never known, could I be a good mom? I didn’t have much time to ponder it as I found myself pregnant two months after my wedding day! Prior to all of this, I served my country in the United States Navy, as a combat veteran, I had to stop my medications for PTSD when I found out I was pregnant. As a degreed counselor, I tried to navigate the hormonal roller coaster that is pregnancy. I had a VA appointed therapist and a supportive spouse, I was going to be ok! I had a full-term pregnancy and naturally delivered a healthy big boy. His delivery was stressed, though, him being so big and I so small. This lent him to a short stint in NICU and left me to be discharged without my full-term baby.
No matter how long or short the duration, going home without your baby is traumatic and this experience altered my entire postpartum journey. I practiced mindfulness, continued with my therapy, prayed… I couldn’t avoid delayed onset Postpartum Depression (PPD) and Postpartum Anxiety(PPA), even a short battle with Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex (D-MER). Because of my history with mental health and education in the field, I was able to advocate for myself and get better fairly quickly. I realized I had an advantage and thought of how many first-time black mothers were dealing or had dealt with the same thing. I began my maternal mental health support group with 15 moms, in my basement, with their beautiful babies. I gave them biscuits, beverages, chicken sausage, mom-mosas, and a safe space to tell their birth stories and voice any other concern they had as new moms. They left feeling seen, validated, included, normal… for a moment, they didn’t feel “crazy.” Neither did I. My mission became to dispel the negative stigma of the “Crazy black mama” to help black women face their mental, prenatal and postpartum so as to be whole and able to enjoy motherhood and marriage the way they want to while minding their mental health.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It was a beautifully smooth road! I reached out to moms I knew were pregnant via social media; some I knew personally, others I didn’t. I gave them my elevator pitch and if they responded with interest I gave them my address and added more biscuits to my bake pan! Towards the end of 2019, I planned family-oriented events to cultivate a foundation for our partners to meet the group and the others, dads. Photoshoots, pumpkin patch visit, apple orchard visit, a mommy night out in December that encouraged the moms to leave their baby, dress up and go out! Even an anniversary brunch to commemorate one year of being a consistent, connected, active support group… then, Covid 19.
My group is intimate and personal, Covid interrupted that. This year I’ve had to transition to a virtual platform while maintaining the essence of a safe space and offering resources for knowledge. I’ve reached out to specialist in the arenas of mental health, motherhood, and marriage to join live Teams calls. I’m working on a medical fireside chat special that includes a Pediatric Urologist for my boy moms, Dentist – how hormones impact dental health, an OB/GYN – perineal recovery after vaginal birth, and a pelvic floor rehabilitative Physical Therapist – diastasis recti and pelvic floor health. I am not a technical person, so this transition has not been easy for me, but it also has been successful thus far!
Biscuits&Babies – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Biscuits&Babies is a maternal mental health support group. We specialize in normalizing the hormonal and mental changes a woman will encounter during her pregnancy and in her postpartum journey. What I’m most proud of is, unlike some social mom groups in Atlanta, we don’t want to do things without our kids, we’re learning to navigate our new lives with our new little humans. We don’t desire to return to some mental or physical norm pre-pregnancy, we desire to introduce ourselves to our new selves and learn how SHE does motherhood and marriage, what she enjoys and holds as a passion as a woman.
What sets Biscuits&Babies apart is the emphasis to address the possible preexisting mental conditions that we brought into motherhood, or the mental conditions that were “gifted” to us in motherhood. We’re not looking to cover up or avoid mental health. We address childhood trauma, attachment styles, love languages, communication styles, conflict resolution approaches. We don’t wish to just glorify motherhood for the gram. We are aiming to rewrite the narrative given to us by our mothers. Either overworked, or angry, or a dream deferred, or lost in the single role of motherhood… my generation wants it all, confident motherhood, sustainable marriages filled with love, and multifaceted identities within the female capacity of being a woman. This can be attained by taking care of your mental health, moms are not crazy, there’s a name for every feeling towards motherhood, Biscuits&Babies helps black mothers name it, address it and cope so she can be the version of a mother she wants to be!
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I’m an extremely transparent person, so I have no shame or resistance to initiate the conversation with any mother. I guess that attributes to my relatability. I have first hand experience, I personally don’t want someone who can only relate from what a book taught them. I am a combat veteran, I’m no stranger to mental illness. I am a mom, no stranger to mom guilt or doubt or the beautifully magical moments that make it worth it. I’m a wife, no stranger to the work required to be a partner and friend. I live the journey I desire to advocate for black women to take if they choose. I’m human, but I show up to do my work everyday and I think in the world we live in today people can appreciate when they see you walking THE walk. There’s a level of accountability I invite and accept, its been my key to success so far!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.biscuitsandbabies.com
- Email: info@biscuitsandbabies.com
- Instagram: @biscuits_and_babies
- Facebook: biscuits_and_babies
Suggest a story: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
