Brittany Starobin rebuilds Haven Postnatal mission

Brittany Starobin is a mom of four, entrepreneur, and the founder of Haven Postnatal Retreat, Atlanta’s first luxury postpartum retreat located in the Four Seasons. A maternal wellness advocate with over 15 years of experience in healthcare and tech, including leadership at Amazon Web Services. She launched Haven in 2024 to create the kind of care she wished she had after her own experience with postpartum depression.

As a Black woman serving a community of primarily Black mothers in Georgia, where maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the country, Brittany is on a mission to make postpartum healing not a privilege, but a necessity.

What inspired you to create Haven at Atlanta’s first luxury postnatal retreat at the Four Seasons?

As a mom of four, during my postpartum periods, also known as the fourth trimester, I experienced postpartum depression myself. With my last child in that fourth trimester being by far the worst. So I wanted to create a space where women were held and heard and seen, especially during such a vulnerable time in their journey into motherhood.

Georgia has some of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country, particularly affecting Black mothers. How does Haven address this crisis?

When moms come into Haven Postnatal from discharge from the hospital, up to 12 weeks postpartum, we are monitoring you. Daily, we are taking your blood pressure, unless there’s a concern, then we’re going to take it more frequently. And if we catch anything early, we’re providing you with the right resources in order to get you the help that you need.

You’re not having to sit at home and question, like, am I okay, or am I not okay. We’re here to help guide you through what is normal and what is abnormal, so you’re not second guessing yourself or questioning what could potentially put you at risk.

You’ve recently had to make the difficult decision to temporarily close the retreat due to funding challenges. Can you walk us through that experience?

It’s been devastating, to be honest, because this is a space, and we have created such a special place for moms to come and really receive the support that they so desperately need. There is a gap, and there is truly a need for this type of care, because currently, as it stands in the United States, we really don’t have postpartum care.

The baby gets seen multiple times after birth, but the person who actually birthed that baby gets seen one time. And they’re like, bye, cutie, hope you survive. It’s one of those things that’s not heard of, and so because a lot of people are not familiar with the concept, while other well developed countries have this concept, we do not.

It is truly devastating, because for the women who we have seen, for the mothers who we have helped, just seeing the joy on their face, seeing the tears that they’ve cried for us holding them during that time. Everyone wants to hold the baby, but no one wants to hold the mom, and so that’s what we’re doing here. We’re holding the mom. We’re holding space for her.

As an entrepreneur, you face the statistical reality that women and Black founders receive significantly less funding. What has that journey been like?

It’s been extremely challenging. As women, and especially Black women, we receive less than 0.5% of investment money, and so having to bootstrap it. I’m at the point, unfortunately, where I’m unable to do that anymore, and so not having access to those funds, that’s where you see the success rate of Black women entrepreneurs.

It is abysmal, because we don’t have access to the same funds. Clearly, statistically, it shows we get less than 0.5% of funding opportunities, so it has been challenging.

What kept you motivated during those early days of building Haven?

The importance of creating a space that women so desperately needed, and Black women at that, because I think a lot of the time we carry so many burdens. And it’s so heavy, and we don’t feel seen a lot of times, and we are misunderstood a lot of times, and especially during this time when you’re so vulnerable, you are extremely misunderstood. So to see women across the board receive that support that they so desperately needed.

You saw it through the lens of the first time mom who’s never gonna have to struggle, and she actually knows what postpartum support does look like. And then you saw it from the lens of the mom who’s had two or three children, who’s just like, oh my god, where was this on my first baby?

It’s been rewarding, but it’s also been triggering at the same time. It’s something that is so insanely healing, but triggering, because you’re watching these women, and it’s pure joy. Every woman deserves to be supported and loved like this through this period of time.

Now you’re pivoting to Haven at Home. Can you tell us about this new model?

The Haven at Home model, we will take what we’ve done in the retreat and bring it to your home, so that same level of support, that same level of care, that same level of meeting you where you’re at, providing you with the resources that you need, because a lot of the time, the fourth trimester, you don’t have the capacity to find certain things that you need, whether it’s a therapist or whether it’s a lactation consultant.

This will also allow us to make it more accessible than the retreat model. The retreat is not really accessible at this point in time, unfortunately, due to the fact that insurance companies don’t pay for it. So it is an out of pocket expense, and so this will also allow us to make it more accessible and be able to reach more people until we’re able to raise the money that we need to build and get our own facility.

What advice would you give other mothers trying to balance entrepreneurship with caregiving, especially during setbacks?

Keep your head up. Not everything is gonna go as you plan, and I would say be always ready to be nimble and ready to pivot. Don’t be so committed to something that is to your detriment. Learn, and I would say fail fast.

When I say fail fast, I mean once you fail, metabolize that failure quickly, get back up, and try again. When you’re doing this, it’s not easy. If it were easy, everyone would do it. But just know that sometimes that failure does happen, and that’s okay, and take that moment that you need to pause, regroup, and get back at it.

Despite the temporary closure, your mission remains unchanged. What is your vision for the future of maternal wellness in Atlanta and beyond?

My hope and my dream is that this becomes a norm in our country. It becomes a norm in which every mother, after she has carried a baby for 40 weeks, that after that time, that most vulnerable time, that she receives the support that she needs, and not support temporarily, support all the way through that first year, because we all experience different challenges through this postpartum journey.

It’s so important that we do receive those resources and that support, because honestly, it sets you up for the trajectory through the rest of your life as well. My hope is that we’re able to provide this care to every woman once they have delivered their babies, and that we’re here to support them through it.

How can viewers support your mission and stay connected with Haven Postnatal?

Follow us online and check out our website to learn more about our services and upcoming Haven at Home model. We’re always looking for support from the community as we work to make postpartum care accessible to every mother who needs it.