Caring for the caretakers. Giving to the ones who always give. Mothering the mothers.

Mama.matters is a beautiful brand handcrafted in Vienna by three women, putting mothers’ well-being at the center of the conversation surrounding motherhood. And creating premium, organic, self-care products to support women in this transformational time. We sat down with Delia Wieser, co-founder, to better understand what they do, why they do it, and the societal discourse change they aim to be a part of.

Find a selection of their products and discover their benefits in our shop. 

INSPIRATION? MOTHERHOOD.

Motherhood - such a beautiful and empowering stage yet such a challenging one too. When I became a mother 7 years ago, everyone - including me - was thinking about the wellbeing of the baby. Only to realize that I actually needed the same amount of attention, care and love as my baby did. Only when you receive enough love and care are you able to give back. 

Happy Mama - Happy Baby!

I had great people around me that helped me throughout my pregnancy and birth yet no one talked to me about what happens after you give birth. “Matrescence” is the term used for this transition from womanhood to motherhood. Like adolescence, there is a profound change in identity. I was completely taken aback by the changes I was going through both physically and emotionally and I wished someone told me before. This way, I would have been better prepared to take decisions for my own wellbeing and actively ask for help.

MOTHERING THE MOTHERS

That’s what we’re here for. The idea naturally came out of my own experience as a new mum. Having heard about the Finnish Baby Box and even ordering it for my baby, as soon as I came back home from the hospital I thought, ‘hey, where’s my mama starter kit’? So I went on to create it. 

I was lucky enough to meet Katharina Griesbacher, my business partner and Katharina Müllner, our inhouse plants & oils expert. Together, we create natural cosmetics - essentials for pregnant women and mothers, products that are present on a daily basis in their lives. 

Globally, every fifth mother suffers from postpartum depression. Lack of sleep, exhaustion and loneliness are, as studies say, a sad reality for 75% of the mothers. So, with mama.matters we dedicate ourselves to physically and emotionally supporting mothers to practice more self-care and feel their best - especially in the first weeks and months after giving birth but also later throughout their motherhood journey too.

We started by thinking about the challenges that mothers have already during pregnancy and postpartum. We turned these challenges into encouraging sentences which became our product names: ‘Allow yourself to pause’, ‘Follow your intuition’, ‘Honor your body’, ‘Let go’. 

WITH CARE FOR MOTHER EARTH

Mother Nature has extraordinary healing powers and we borrow them for every product we make. All our skincare & aromatherapy products are entirely made with natural organic ingredients in Vienna and even though originally developed with pregnancy and postpartum needs in mind they can be used by anyone.

Local production is a very important aspect of our brand. Our Lab finds itself behind our Flagship Store in Vienna where we mix and hand-pour all products in bottles and we label them with a paper label (without plastic coating). It’s very important for us to have the freedom and flexibility in-house production offers. We produce in small charges without preservatives so our customers always receive a fresh product that is much more efficient and pleasant to apply on the skin.

We don’t make financial compromises when it comes to the ingredients we choose, we pick what we know it’s best for a certain benefit and that’s also something that sets us apart from any soap or oil that you’ll find in your corner supermarket where priorities lie somewhere else. 

THE WOMEN BEHIND MAMA.MATTERS

I (Delia) worked for over 12 years as a published trend researcher and innovation consultant supporting global companies to develop new innovative products & services. I take care of our business+product development and sales. 

‘Self-care for me can mean different things on different days: from tiny moments when I stop to consciously breath - ideally paired with our Strength Oil Roll On :) - to asking for babysitting support to go to a workout or meet friends or sometimes it’s more time to work so I feel confident about a project. It’s about putting myself first - to not run on empty batteries while supporting everyone else around me.’

Katharina Griesbacher is an internationally awarded brand designer and mother of two and is now the co-founder and aesthetic director of mama.matters. She also designed and literally put together the interior of our flagship store. 

‘Self-care is something I am still learning about. As a tribe person I feel best when everyone in my tribe is happy, so I sometimes go over my own limits. Since I became a mother 6 years ago, I started more and more to feel the need for ‘me-time’ but only recently I’m finally really listening to what makes me happy and allowing myself to enjoy more, instead of pushing through – lucky enough I’m embedded in a surrounding that supports me to do so.’ 

Katharina Müllner graduated in agricultural science and phytomedicine and worked for years as a scientist. She is now bringing her extensive knowledge to our products, creating and hand-pouring them in our lab in Vienna. 

‘Self-care is making time for myself, being in nature and eating healthy food. I also like sports. But mainly self-care for me is about paying attention to my own needs, expressing them and honoring them.’

THE WAY AHEAD

There is still a lot to talk about motherhood. That’s why mama.matters was born and we only now have the feeling that women and their network of support started to understand more why we’re here and why mothers matter. Even so, for ‘mothering mothers’ there is still a lot of space for people, brands and services to contribute to their wellbeing. At mama.matters, we dream of it all as a common, solid attitude – anchored in society and considered as common sense to appreciate and celebrate mothers, fathers and parents in general.  

Being kind and understanding instead of being judgemental is so important. We need to rebuild society around kindness and family values and to share/distribute responsibility to every member of the ‘tribe’. This way, there would be a bit more space for each mother, space for her own needs too.

Katharina Griesbacher: Another complex look at this topic for myself is my own mother. She gave everything for me and my three siblings. Only now, after almost 40 years of motherhood, is she learning to listen to her own needs. As long as I can remember she always held back, gave in, gave more, took less, backed us up, loved, loved, loved us and then let go. She was always thinking about our wellbeing and our needs first. She also never questioned her role as a mother. She grew into it with love. It was asked from her by society anyway. “Back then this was normal”, is her answer, if I ask her why she never put herself first. Yes, it is a gift to have a kind, giving and loving mother and for sure I want to be this kind of mother for my children too, but going through matrescence, makes me ask: why does everybody take all this for granted?