BRISTOL — Motherhood can be overwhelming, and finding support to help navigate the highs and lows of parenting isn’t always easy.

With that in mind, Bristol resident Kelly Bessette is launching The Blooming Circle, a mom-to-mom support group that she’s hoping offers local mothers a space to share their experiences, learn from one another and get more of the assistance she believes they need.

“I just really want to see people finding connections,” Bessette told the Independent. “There already is a lot of that in our community with the library, story time, play dates, that kind of thing. But just finding that strong connection with other women, there’s something in that message that we are not alone.”

Bessette has a background in social work and is currently a stay-at-home mom with two boys, ages 4 and 6. Inspiration behind The Blooming Circle came in part from her postpartum experiences.

“Since having my first child, I started having kind of the postpartum blues, and then as I had my second child, I ended up having some really bad postpartum depression,” she recalled. “(I) didn’t really recognize that it was even an issue, it was actually not until my husband noticed this behavior; there was a lot of mom rage, there was a lot of mom guilt.”

Bessette said she ended up seeking help through her doctor, who prescribed medication that helped.

“After having my kids, I just honed in to this idea of, ‘Wow, there’s not a lot of postpartum support out there,’” she said. “There’s a lot of preparation for baby…and even after having your baby lots of people, which it’s kind of in our nature to, focus on the child rather than the mother. I’ve been doing a lot of research over the last few months of trying to pursue this idea of ‘What does support look like for the mom, whether they’re a fulltime working parent or a stay-at-home parent.’”

Those explorations led her to create The Blooming Circle, which will kick off with its first gathering on Friday, April 4, from 10:30 a.m.-noon at Bristol’s Lawrence Memorial Library. Bessette said the first meeting will be more of an informational gathering to hear from moms.

“I’m hoping that first meeting is going to talk about the benefits of coming together as women, as moms. Bringing our kids, inviting our babies, our toddlers with us, and just talking about, ‘What are the challenges you’re experiencing,’” she explained.

While that first gathering is slated for a Friday morning, Bessette said she’s hoping the group finds a meeting time that works for parents with different schedules.

“I understand it can’t be a perfect world, so it may not meet everybody’s needs, but that hope is to start meeting once a month and as people find it more interesting or they need more support or resources, increasing it,” she said. “It could be a weekly thing at some point, which would be great; just trying to figure out what works best for most parents.”

The group is open to moms of all ages and stages of their motherhood journey. Bessette said eventually she’d like to open up the group to fathers and families as a whole, offering support as its needed throughout parenthood.

Bessette noted that in addition to hearing from other moms, she’s hoping to share some resources she’s found helpful with the group. Those include books on postpartum and talking about resources that are available in Addison County.

Looking ahead, Bessette said she’d like to invite speakers to the group’s gatherings, such as an OB-GYN or a lactation consultant.

“Other moms might find interest in speaking about their own experiences and sharing the resources that they have,” she added. “Really just building on this foundation of ‘What do moms need and how can we grow that and build that into something even bigger, something beautiful.’”

Ultimately, Bessette hopes The Blooming Circle offers moms a chance to connect with their peers, potentially with those navigating situations similar to their own.

“If you have experienced any kind of trauma in your pregnancy or in your life, any kind of loss, any kind of loneliness, any kind of ‘I don’t know who I am, this is really hard,’ those types of moments, finding those connections with other women that probably have experienced or are experiencing the same exact thing,” she said.

Those interested in learning more about The Blooming Circle can reach Bessette at [email protected], join the Facebook group (The Blooming Circle) or visit the Instagram page (@thebloomingcircle.802).