Our Story

Hello and a warm welcome to Prana Mama; nourishing meals for mother and baby.

I am Jess, Āyurvedic Women's Health Consultant, Postpartum Doula and Founder of Prana Mama, and I run this alongside my amazing and supportive husband, Fraser. Here's our story of how Prana Mama came to be.

After the birth of our first son, Magnus, in 2019, those early months weren't quite as peaceful as we'd imagined. Magnus was a very unsettled sleeper and seemed to be struggling with his digestion. Like many new parents, we were exhausted and searching for answers.

We sought the support of a naturopath, who encouraged me to look more closely at what I was eating while breastfeeding.

It became a turning point for our family. As I simplified my diet, we noticed Magnus became much more settled — and when his little tummy was happier, the whole household felt calmer too.

This experience sparked my fascination with the connection between food, digestion, mother and baby.

In 2019, I began studying to become an Āyurvedic practitioner with The Collective Wellness Institute in Melbourne. While pregnant with our second son in 2020, I went on to specialise in Āyurvedic postpartum care with Soma Shakti.

I began weaving what I had learned from our own experience with the principles of āyurveda, creating postpartum food centred around being warming, nourishing and gentle to digest for both mother and breastfed baby.

From our kitchen to yours

I went on to work as a women's health practitioner and āyurvedic postpartum doula, supporting women with their digestion, nervous systems and hormones, as well as caring for families through the weeks following birth.

Food naturally became part of that care.

I began cooking nourishing postpartum meals for the families I worked with locally. One family became another, word spread, and eventually I was cooking for so many mothers that what began as part of my consulting and doula work grew into something of its own.

Prana Mama was born.

What makes our meals different

Our philosophy is as much about what we leave out as what we put in.

Prana Mama postpartum meals are made without gluten, dairy, onion, garlic or tomato. Instead, we use simple, warming ingredients and mild spices to create deeply nourishing meals that are gentle on digestion and mindful of this sensitive time for both mother and baby.

There is one special exception within traditional āyurvedic postpartum care: ghee.

Ghee is made from grass-fed unsalted butter with the milk solids removed and has long held an important place in āyurvedic postpartum nourishment. Traditionally, it is considered a nourishing fat that is gentler on digestion than many other dairy products.

We also know that some breastfeeding mothers are advised to strictly avoid all milk products. That's why we don't cook our meals with ghee. Instead, we use olive and coconut oil so each mother can choose what's right for her.

For those who wish to include it, our homemade golden ghee is available separately and can be added by the teaspoon to a warm Prana Mama meal, or spread like butter in our Cinnamon Banana Bread.

Everything we do comes back to something we learned in those early days with our first son:

When a baby's tummy is settled, it can change the rhythm of an entire household. And when a mother is nourished and supported, the whole family feels it.