Impact and Give Back: Haute Mama Collective
Bringing Up Baby
-Liesel Schmidt
Women have been having babies since the beginning of time, but bringing a little one into the world, like everything else, has gotten more and more expensive. According to recent research from the Peterson-Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) Health System Tracker, giving birth costs an average of $18,865, including pregnancy, delivery and postpartum care. In many cases, insurance can mitigate those costs, but not everyone has insurance.
And then comes the costs of caring for your new baby.
Food, clothes, diapers, toys, strollers, bedding…the list goes on and on.
Aside from the costs, there are feelings of isolation and being overwhelmed that can follow on the heels of giving birth, when there’s no time to shower, much less eat a hot meal or spend time with friends. Postpartum depression is also a common concern, though it’s not always an issue that new mothers know how to address or even recognize.
All of these are reasons that Haute Off the Rack digital content creator, Jennifer Perrault, launched Haute Mama Collective in May of 2022, shortly before the birth of her second baby boy. “I had really challenging pregnancy and postpartum experiences,” she explains. “Still, I realized that I was fortunate because I had all the support and resources I needed to get through the challenges. I wanted to create an organization that would help moms who aren’t as lucky to have the village that so many of us do. Every mom deserves to enjoy being a mother, and I hope to encourage all the women who are fortunate enough to have both the financial and physical support they need for their own families to give back to the women who do not have the same type of care that they deserve.”
