Through our experience supporting women throughout their motherhood journey, The Tenth has been dedicated to supporting women through one of the most transformative periods of their lives: the postpartum journey.

Throughout that time, we have worked with many women navigating recovery after birth. We've supported physical healing, feeding challenges, emotional wellbeing, confidence, identity shifts and the transition into motherhood. We have seen first-hand the difference that expert, personalised care can make during this chapter of life.

We have also observed something else.

Pregnancy is often one of the most supported periods in a woman's life. There are appointments to attend, milestones to track, books to read and classes to book. Conversations naturally focus on labour, feeding choices, nursery preparation and what to expect on the day a baby arrives. Much of this support is valuable, necessary and reassuring.

Yet as maternity care continues to evolve, there is an important question worth asking: are we preparing women for birth, or are we preparing them for the reality of what follows?

In almost every area of professional life, feedback loops are a given.

You make a decision. You watch what happens. You adjust. Even in roles with unusually long horizons such as a multi-year product build, a market entry, a company turnaround… there is eventually a moment of reckoning. A point where you find out if you got it right. The cycle of do, assess, adjust, repeat is so deeply embedded in how many of us work that we stop noticing it, it just becomes the rhythm of competence.

Motherhood doesn't work like that.

Pregnancy and postpartum are often described as transformative, and they are. But transformation rarely happens in isolation. For generations, motherhood was experienced in community: surrounded by other women, shared wisdom, and a natural network of support. Today, many women move through this journey feeling more alone than ever.

You’re not meant to do this alone.

Six weeks. It is printed on appointment cards, delivered at postpartum check-ups, and offered as reassurance that recovery is complete. Six weeks and you are “cleared.” Cleared for exercise. Cleared for physical intimacy. Cleared, in theory, to return to life as it was before birth.

The problem is not the six-week check itself. It is what we have allowed it to represent.

In this conversation with The Tenth, Chessie reflects on her path into motherhood, the lessons she learned during those early newborn days, and how she’s approaching pregnancy differently the second time around; with honesty, perspective and her signature infectious energy.