Flora’s Walk: Compassion, Connection, and Community Awareness of Maternal Mental Health
Heather Boyd Heather Boyd

Flora’s Walk: Compassion, Connection, and Community Awareness of Maternal Mental Health

Each May, something beautiful happens across Canada: strollers, sneakers, and community spirit gather for Flora’s Walk, the nation’s largest perinatal mental health fundraiser. But this isn’t just about walking—it's about walking with. With the parents navigating sleepless nights. With the families quietly coping with anxiety, grief, or isolation. With every new mother or father who’s ever wondered, “Is it just me?”

Launched in 2022, Flora’s Walk has already supported over 100 organizations in offering accessible therapy and support groups for perinatal mental health. As both an occupational therapist and a mother of three, I know firsthand how layered the journey into parenthood can be. Yes, there is love and joy—but often, there’s also fatigue, self-doubt, and the often invisible weight of anxiety and depression.

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Oops.  (Mistake-making and Parenting)
parenting Heather Boyd parenting Heather Boyd

Oops. (Mistake-making and Parenting)

You’re going to make mistakes in parenting.

You’re going to think you’re doing one thing and actually be doing the exact opposite.

You're not going to have a darned clue what you're doing.

You’re going to figure something out (about sleep, about how to parent responsively, about who your unique kiddo is and what they need), and then you will somehow unlearn it, and have to learn it again. And again.

But you will discover things; learn things; get really great at things; and be ok with the things you’re not so great at.

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