114 | The Birth of Ingrid & Isabel - Ingrid Carney

Ingrid Carney is the founder of Ingrid & Isabel, the largest maternity brand created by moms for moms. We had the opportunity to hear her own birth stories and how they changed her and have shaped the brand.

For Ingrid, pregnancy was another item on the list, coming together to round out how she had planned her life. But as she moved through her pregnancy, shifts would require her to release control. And in doing so, Ingrid would settle with an understanding that during this time, "It's the body that's in charge - your body is your body pregnant, and you are on that journey." No matter what you do or don't do.

Within her flexibility and going with the flow mindset, as she came closer to the birth of her daughter, she still felt like things would be textbook. So at eight and a half months, when she found out her daughter was breech, it wasn't something she felt prepared to handle. She gathered the information from the doctors and decided to move forward with trying to flip her daughter. Soon after the procedure, her water broke, and she would navigate three days of labor before her daughter was born. On the third day, reaching a point of feeling like she was tapped out, Ingrid and her husband decided to move forward with a surgical birth.

During the early parts of her postpartum, she had an extensive support system, but she found that she and her support system focused a lot on her daughter and not much on Ingrid's healing. At some point finding herself in what she described as a "fog" - but now knowing she was dealing with postpartum depression. Navigating it on her own with her husband, she slowly found her rhythm, and tides would change drastically after joining a mom's group. This group provided her community with others who were also working through their parenthood journey at the same time.

Joining this group would also be the beginning for Ingrid & Isabel. In a conversation in her mom's group, there was a discussion around products they all were using and whether or not they worked. Ingrid shared that she had created something - the Bellaband®. Seeing it and how it worked, the group encouraged her to move forward and make more. Taking advantage of nap time, Ingrid would use that time to explore fabrics and designs and, in November 2003, would have her first sale. The Bellaband® would become a product that brought her family together and has grown into a national company offering a full range of maternity essentials.

Resources:

Ingrid & Isabel | maternity essentials brand