From A book & a Framework

To A Maternal Mental Health Mission

The Idea was simple. The mission became bigger.

Tap In Not Out began as a practical framework built on specific principles to help mothers recognize what they’re carrying, let go of what isn’t serving them, and make room for what matters.

But I kept coming back to one question: How do you make that kind of support effortless for a mother who is already overwhelmed?

That curiosity led me into the research on maternal mental health. And somewhere in that research, I recognized myself.

Thirteen years after my son was born, I realized I had experienced postpartum depression without knowing it at the time.

That changed the direction of my work.

I no longer wanted to simply create tools that helped mothers manage overwhelm. I wanted to understand how we could help women recognize what was happening before they reached crisis.

My mission became bigger. This is how a little book became a tech company working to reach the mothers who are struggling quietly, make support easier for them to access in the middle of everyday life, and help fewer women fall through the cracks.

Brittany was this statistic. just like so many mothers.

The research shows that mothers are underserved, overlooked, and lack proper support.

Research + Discovery

So I started looking at what happens in the middle.

Before depression. Before anxiety becomes debilitating. Before someone finally says, I can't do this anymore.

I wanted to better understand the everyday experience that comes before that point: mental load, stress, changing functional levels, family demands, and the invisible pressure mothers carry while continuing to get everything done.

That led to an IRB-approved study with neuroscientist Dr. Jodi Pawluski and an international research team, using multiple validated measures to explore parental mental load and how technology might better support families.

The research became the foundation for what came next.

100+ Participants → 17 Focus Groups → Multiple Validated Instruments → One Central Focus

From research to strategies for moms

Turning the problem into an effortless solution

The research made something increasingly clear to me: maternal mental health needs better tools between “I'm fine” and “I need help.”

Tools that fit into real life.

Tools that don't require a mother to already know what is wrong.

Tools that can help her recognize changing capacity, understand what may be contributing to it, and decide what kind of support she needs next.

That became Strategies for Moms — the research and technology company I founded to continue this work.

And it became the foundation for TINO, technology designed to help women recognize and respond to changing capacity earlier, before overwhelm becomes crisis.

Tap In Not Out is where the idea began.
Strategies for Moms is where we build what comes next.

Tap In Not Out
How can I help mothers with overwhelm?

↓

Maternal Mental Health
I realized this was much bigger than overwhelm.

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Research
What is happening before mothers reach crisis?

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Strategies for Moms
How do we build better ways to intervene earlier?

Research References:

1. Fawcett, E. J., Fairbrother, N., Cox, M. L., White, I. R., & Fawcett, J. M. (2019). The Prevalence of Anxiety Disorders During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period: A Multivariate Bayesian Meta-Analysis. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 80(4). https://doi.org/10.4088/JCP .18r12527

2. Association of American Medical Colleges. (n.d.). Maternal mental health. AAMC. Retrieved August 24, 2026, from Gavin, N. I., Gaynes, B. N., Lohr, K. N., Meltzer-Brody, S., Gartlehner, G., & Swinson, T. (2005). Perinatal Depression: A Systematic Review of Prevalence and Incidence. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 106(5 Part 1), 1071–1083. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.AOG.0000183597.31630.db

3. Ogallar MAD, Martínez Vázquez S, Martínez AH, Peinado Molina RA, Martínez Galiano JM. Prevalence and associated factors of anxiety in postpartum women. Eur J Midwifery. 2025 Jun 12;9. doi: 10.18332/ejm/204308. PMID: 40510437; PMCID: PMC12160062.

4. Dean, L., Churchill, B., & Ruppanner, L. (2021). The mental load: building a deeper theoretical understanding of how cognitive and emotional labor overload women and mothers. Community, Work & Family, 25(1), 13–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2021.2002813

5. The Guardian. (2026, January 28). Seven out of 10 UK mothers feel overloaded, research reveals. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jan/28/seven-out-of-10-uk-mothers-feel-overloaded-research-reveals

6. Walker LO, Murry N. Maternal Stressors and Coping Strategies During the Extended Postpartum Period: A Retrospective Analysis with Contemporary Implications. Womens Health Rep (New Rochelle). 2022 Jan 31;3(1):104-114. doi: 10.1089/whr.2021.0134. PMID: 35136882; PMCID: PMC8812510.

7. Adams, Y. J., Miller, M. L., Agbenyo, J. S., & Ehla, E. E. (2023). Postpartum care needs assessment: Women’s understanding of postpartum care, practices, barriers, and educational needs. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 23(502). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-023-05813-0

8. Saharoy R, Potdukhe A, Wanjari M, Taksande AB. Postpartum Depression and Maternal Care: Exploring the Complex Effects on Mothers and Infants. Cureus. 2023 Jul 4;15(7):e41381. doi: 10.7759/cureus.41381. PMID: 37546054; PMCID: PMC10400812.

9. Mughal, M. K., Giallo, R., Arnold, P . D., Kehler, H., Bright, K., Benzies, K., Wajid, A., & Kingston, D. (2019). Trajectories of Maternal Distress and Risk of Child Developmental Delays: Findings From the All Our Families (AOF) Pregnancy Cohort. Journal of Affective Disorders, 248, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2018.12.132