Sonia Thompson, its founder The Exalted Motheris redefining postnatal care in Birmingham and beyond. As a mother of five, Reiki and Womb Healing practitioner, and certified postpartum doula, Sonia brings a deeply holistic approach to supporting new mothers through one of the most transformative times of their lives. Drawing on over two decades of motherhood and a calling to nurture others, she has created a business that combines ancient wisdom with modern understanding. Through The Exalted Motherholds space for women to heal, rest and reconnect with themselves as they enter motherhood with confidence and calmness. Here she talks to The Natural Parent magazine about the inspiration behind what she does, the challenges she has overcome and her hopes and dreams for the future.
The Passion: What inspired you to create your business?
For the past three years, I have felt a calling to doula work – especially postpartum. Being able to hold space and nurture the new mother is my area of expertise. I have a background in Reiki healing – particularly in holistic womb healing and healing and transformational guidance – and I believe this all ties into my doula work and has strengthened my passion for it.
Being a seasoned mother of five, with my oldest child being 24 and my youngest one year old, I have first-hand experience and knowledge of what is most beneficial and most effective for postpartum care for both mother and baby with old and new school knowledge. Having experienced my first postpartum in 2001 and my fifth in 2024, I have seen many changes in baby care, maternity support, baby products and postpartum recovery, and I am so deeply committed to sharing all of this with every mother I work with, empowering her to feel fully supported, nurtured and confident in her parenthood. relationships. Becoming a mother, especially for the first time, can be both beautiful and overwhelming at the same time.
Having done some local research, I know there is a huge gap in postnatal care across the country, especially in Birmingham and the surrounding areas. One change that has been made is that now instead of a midwife coming out to see you for your 10-14 day checks, mothers have to travel to a clinic. When I had my first child, they came to visit the mother at her home. Being at such an early stage postpartum and having to travel away from home can be daunting, overwhelming and, I’ve found, extremely uncomfortable while in the depths of sleep deprivation and labor pain.
After also doing some market research, about 90 percent of the moms I asked felt they would have benefited from postpartum doula support after having their baby, with some responses being “If I’d known you existed, I definitely would have hired you.” This speaks to me on many levels. Feeling the lack of support for new mothers is something that is heavy on my heart. It motivates me every day to share my services as much as possible and to continue doing this work for as long as I can.
The Exalted Mother is it more than a business to me; it is one of my soul’s purposes. I am truly honored to do this work and have great respect for every mother I work with.
The Launch: How did you get started?
I launched The Exalted Mother in July this year and set it up by setting up my website, registering with HMRC and opening for trade. Before that, I completed my postpartum doula training in 2023 while on maternity leave (wait, how did I do that with four kids and a baby?).
Since founding, I’ve reached out to many local business owners and organizations that work with my ideal client – such as pregnancy yoga instructors, independent midwives, prenatal class teachers, hypnobirthing instructors, and baby boutiques – asking about potential collaboration and sharing referral paths. I have set up networking opportunities with some of them where I will give a presentation about myself and my services and also drop off my flyers at their place of business. So right now I’m in a manufacturing and marketing stage, which feels very exciting and motivating.
Innovation: What was the biggest discovery for you in your business?
The biggest breakthrough for me so far has been understanding my niche and ideal client on a deeper level. I contacted another local business owner (maternity and postpartum yoga instructor) about working together and she kindly asked the large community group of pregnant and postpartum mothers who live in the areas I serve if they would be willing to hire my services at the rates I was charging. The answer was that 80 percent of them thought my prices were too high. I took this into account and after some thought, I have since reduced my prices to ensure I can support a wider range of postnatal mums.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
In my 24 years of mothering, the DEEPEST thing I’ve learned is the value of taking time for yourself and really understanding why, when a plane goes down, you put the oxygen mask on yourself first and then on your child. You can’t pour from an empty cup, so I drive with that knowledge when I plan my calendar, making sure I can make time for myself each day, doing something that allows me to fully step away from work, motherhood, wife and everything in between. I treat this time as sacred, as by doing so, my cup can be filled. Most importantly, it allows me to be the best version of myself for my clients, children, husband and most importantly, myself. With that said, there are many (maybe four days) where I feel extremely overwhelmed and overstimulated. With a five- and one-year-old and my other three children, my household can be very noisy, which motivates me to protect my “me” time even more.
In addition to my time, I also use a calendar for organization, rely on my husband and older children for childcare when necessary, and set a limit on not checking my phone after 8 p.m. All this together allows me to maintain balance as much as possible.
