New York Family: A Q

Find out how this NYC mama gets her healthy glow. By Eric Messinger Have you met Latham? Latham Thomas, a local specialist in maternal and child well-being, helps NYC families achieve optimal health through her new holistic lifestyle hub, Mama Glow. We sat down with the wellness expert to ask all about the Mama Glow philosophy and to get the scoop on the upcoming Mama Glow Salon Series taking place on April 16th. The event will feature Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein's acclaimed documentary, More Business of Being Born, along with a panel discussion held by Rebecca Minkoff, Lyss Stern of Diva Moms, Denise Albert and Melissa Gerstein from The MOMS and Dee Poku of the WIE Network. Be sure to show up early for cocktail hour at 6pm - the film will begin shortly after! (Click here for tickets!) Tell us about your professional background and how Mama Glow grows out of that. Well, I'm a graduate of Columbia University and the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. My passion lies in women's wellness particularly in and around pregnancy. I had such an incredible experience being pregnant and it was largely due to lifestyle factors. I first launched Tender Shoots Wellness in 2005 to offer culinary, nutrition and yoga services for busy moms-to-be. The outgrowth of that work and a new vision for events, products, etc. resulted in Mama Glow.Iempower expectant and new moms and help them ignite their glow power through nutrition, yoga, lifestyle and labor support. I also co-founded Mama Glow Film Festival, which is a platform for maternal advocacy through film and philanthropy. I'm an author, too--my first book on pregnancy and wellness comes out this November. The graphics on your website are gorgeous-and of course it's no a coincidence that the main silhouettes are of women with graceful bumps-baby bumps. Do you see Mama Glow as exclusively for expectant and new moms, or primarily? Thank you. Mama Glow is a lifestyle hub that was conceived specifically with mothers and mamas-to-be in mind, but we offer a range of services and events for women outside of that demographic. Mama Glow is about harnessing your creative power, and integrating self care--before, during and after pregnancy. We primarily serve this population but all women can certainly join in the conversation. You have a background in integrative nutrition and you're a holistic health coach. How did your particular interest in pre-natal health and maternal well-being grow out of that? Was it there from the start? Did it start when you became a mom? My interest in maternal health peaked when I became pregnant with Fulano. I was always interested in food as medicine and using healthy lifestyle practices like yoga, meditation and organic living to create an abundant and balanced life. It wasn't until I was pregnant that I saw this space was wide open and our unique needs as expectant mothers just weren't being met. I had an amazing pregnancy and birth and I wanted to do my best to ensure I could help other mothers feel the way I did. My mission is to make moms feel luminous and help them harness the lifestyle practices that work for them to optimize their glow power. To read the rest of this New York Family article click here.