From Fastcompany · · 2m
Mothers are founding startups to fix childcare
More than 130 working moms have launched companies to solve postpartum and childcare problems that government and employers ignore.
In brief
More than 130 working moms have launched companies to solve postpartum and childcare problems that government and employers ignore. Working mothers are starting businesses to address postpartum depression and childcare gaps that neither government nor corporate America will solve. Originally reported by Fastcompany.
Stephanie Fornaro's turning point
Stephanie Fornaro left her sales job before her second child's birth in 2017. After delivery, she struggled with postpartum depression while her entrepreneur husband travelled half the time.
The guilt of needing help
Fornaro didn't want to hire childcare help. She felt she was failing as a mother by allowing someone else to raise her son, though she had spent her life wondering how mothers could leave.
“It felt like I was failing as a mother because I was allowing someone else to raise my son.”
Understanding postpartum depression
Fornaro's own experience with postpartum depression taught her it wasn't a lack of love. It was a lack of resources and support that made mothers feel they had to leave.
“It wasn't a lack of love. It was a lack of resources and support.”
The promise versus reality
America tells women they can have it all: children, a career, and their sanity. But the numbers don't support this narrative about what mothers actually experience.
Maternal mental health crisis
The percentage of mothers with excellent mental health dropped from nearly forty percent in twenty sixteen to twenty six percent in twenty twenty three, according to a twenty twenty five study.
Fair or poor mental health rising
During the same period, mothers who rated their mental health as fair or poor jumped by more than sixty percent, according to research published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
More than 130 moms taking action
More than one hundred thirty mothers have told Fast Company about companies they have launched to try to fix at least part of the broken childcare and postpartum support system.
Seventy five plus businesses documented
Fast Company has compiled an exclusive list of seventy five plus businesses founded by working mothers to address gaps in childcare, postpartum care, and maternal support services.
The new mommy track emerges
Working mothers are founding startups because government and Corporate America won't solve postpartum depression and childcare problems, creating a new wave of maternal entrepreneurship.
The headline
Working mothers are starting businesses to address postpartum depression and childcare gaps that neither government nor corporate America will solve.
