The Positive Wellbeing Zine for Mums is an award-winning quartely print publication of all things motherhood and positive wellbeing. It offers inspiration, information and relaxation for mums. It’s also the perfect size and fits easily in just about any bag (even those which are filled to the brim with baby gear) so can be whipped out if you find yourself with an unexpected quiet moment.
I recently asked Emma Cottam (founder of The Positive Wellbeing Zine for Mums and @isabella_and_us) if she would answer a few questions for me, and here’s what she has to say:
What inspired you to create The Positive Wellbeing Zine for Mums? Can you tell us a bit about your mission and what the Zine is all about?
After my daughter, Isabella, was born in December 2017 I really struggled with the transiton into motherhood. I struggled to find anything that spoke to me as a mum, that met my needs, my worries, that supported me. Everything I saw, and most of the conversations that I had with others, all focused on my daughter – how she was sleeping, how she was feeding. I couldn’t find the support that I needed and so I decided to create this resource for other mums. I wanted it to fill a need for mums – to nourish, offer support and encouragenent – but also be beautiful and something that you wanted to pick up an read.
My mission is to help mums make time for themselves, because they deserve to. The Zine is filled with a selection of articles around motherhood and positive wellbeing, alongside beautiful illustrations and photography from other small businesses which are cheering mums on in their journey. It is a beautiful and calm publication and is the perfect little book of positivity, inspiration, real advice and love.
Emma also started a podcast – so I asked her what her favourite episode is:
I don’t think I could choose just one, as they have all been so wonderful to record. I’ve learned so much from all of them and it’s been so wonderful to share so many stories.
If I absolutely had to choose one I would say that it would be Episode 52 where I recorded a special one year anniversary episode with my friend, Kelly Neale, asking me the questions instead. Mostly the podcasts that we’ve recorded have ended up in us laughing A LOT so this episode was really fun (and scary) to record.
Do you have any parting wisdom that you’d like to share, perhaps something that speaks to mothers as well as women who haven’t yet begun this journey?
Trust your own instincts. Do what feels good, what feels right, and trust in the process. So much of what I’ve learned about motherhood has been about listening to and trusting myself.
Emma has generously shared a code for a free digital copy of Issue 7. Check out as normal, popping “LUELLAANDROSE’ in the gift or discount code box. Happy reading!
This post was written by Iris Brannan, with contributions by Emma Cottam.
