34 | DECEMBER 29 • 2022
W
hen a woman is expecting for
the first time, motherhood
can seem like a whimsical
dream with soothing lullabies and a
sweet sleeping baby. Then she gives
birth; her hormones are completely out
of whack; the baby never stops crying
and her partner’s just snoring through
the chaos. Suddenly, the new mother
is hysterically weeping, “What’s wrong
with me? Everyone else makes it seem so
easy!”
Four years ago, when Rina Hennes
Sabes, LMSW, gave birth to her first baby,
Rocky, her adjustment to motherhood
was extremely different from what she
had anticipated.
“There’s so much that women go
through during pregnancy and the post-
partum period that’s just not talked about
very often,” Rina said.
In 2021, Rina was pregnant for the
second time and working with older
adults at Jewish Family Service when she
felt a new calling to work with moms in
the community.
Rina teamed up with her colleague
Julia Cohen LMSW, PMH-C, who felt
strongly about this topic as well.
Julia gave birth to her son Daniel in
January 2020, just months before the
entire world shut down due to COVID.
Naturally, that played a role in Julia’s
postpartum experience; she struggled
with a perinatal mood and anxiety
disorder that precipitated her interest in
further training and helping other moms.
Rina and Julia took trainings together
on the subject and, with the blessings
of JFS and in partnership with JFamily,
created their first postpartum support
group this past summer.
Meetings took place in person on
Wednesdays from 1-2:30 p.m. at Nature’s
Playhouse in Ferndale and was capped
at 10 people in order to keep the group
intimate.
The summer program was offered to
moms of babies up to age 6 months, but
now, thanks to a grant they received from
Jewish Women’s Foundation, they are
able to expand their programming and
offer it to moms of babies up to age 1.
Their second cohort began mid-
November and they have plans to expand
even further with future workshops and
support groups for new parents.
“It’s obvious how needed this support
is and we want to make sure we’re
reaching everyone who may benefit,”
Julia said.
While Julia and Rina do share some
tools and strategies, that isn’t the main
focus of the group. They lead the group
as facilitators and invite members to
share what worked for them.
“It’s about having community, being
with others who are going through the
same thing,” Julia said. “Having a baby is
such a life-changing experience and those
who are struggling can feel like it’s just
them. Being with others reassures you
and validates your struggles.”
Both Julia and Rina are young moms
themselves and feel like they gain
personally from the group.
“Our participants shared that the
support group was the highlight of their
week, and Julia and I felt the exact same
way,” Rina said.
Rivkah Kahlani of West Bloomfield
attended both the summer and winter
support group and said it has been
intensely valuable for her.
“The cool thing about the support
group is that the focus is on the mom,
making sure we feel seen, heard, valued
and validated. We can be real about all
our scary new feelings and not worry
that we’re being judged for them. We can
just be human,” Rivkah said.
HEALTH
Local postpartum support group helps
new moms deal with scary feelings.
Support
for New Moms
ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Rivkah Kahlani
with her baby
at a recent
support group