Hi! I’m Maria

I believe every woman deserves to feel safe, informed and deeply cared for as she becomes a mother. Not just on the day she gives birth, but in all the months either side of it.

Before I had children, I worked a corporate job in the city. Then I became a mum, and something shifted. I became captivated by matrescence — the transition from maiden to mother — and by how profoundly it was transforming me and the women around me.

A few years later, I lost a pregnancy at 21 weeks. My care was poorly managed, and I didn't have the support, education or resources to come through it unscathed. The more I spoke with other women, the more I realised how common experiences like mine are, and how rarely they're talked about.

I had recently trained as a pre and postnatal yoga teacher, and I was surrounded by inspiring women's health practitioners including physios, chiropractors, naturopaths, midwives, obstetricians and perinatal psychologists. In 2021, I redirected my career and became a doula.

Since then, I've supported dozens of families through my birth education programs, pregnancy yoga, and mums and bubs classes. I've now begun studying midwifery, because I want to help change how women experience pregnancy, birth and postpartum in Australia. And you can't change a system unless you're part of it.

That's why I created Familyhood. It’s a place where parents can learn at their own pace, and where those who want more can have me walk beside them through Matrescence with Maria.

My work grows alongside my own family. I create the things we need along the way, and as my girls have grown up, that's how Joey for Girls was born. It offers thoughtfully designed period products and education for tween girls and their grown-ups. I believe every stage of family life deserves better resources and more care.