Published by Rizzoli, the book presents an entirely new look at the postpartum  experience drawing on the collective stories of everyday people and notable celebrities

On September 21, 2021, global intimates and apparel brand Knix announces the launch of Life After Birth: Portraits of Love and the Beauty of Parenthood – a coffee table book created in partnership with Carriage House Birth featuring imagery and personal stories of the beauty surrounding every stage of parenthood and the postpartum experience. After surveying customers, Knix found that 90 percent of birthing people received comments about their bodies after giving birth, 76 percent felt pressure to  “bounce back,” and 56 percent experienced postpartum depression. Life After Birth tackles the societal taboos around the birthing experience by celebrating everything that comes with parenthood.  

The book, which is co-authored by the Knix and Carriage House Birth Communities,  features hundreds of photos and stories including notable celebrities such as Amy  Schumer, Rocky Barnes, Gabrielle Union-Wade, Bozoma Saint John, Shanola Hampton and more. The forward of the book is written by Knix Global Ambassador, and expecting mother, Ashley Graham. 

“There is a lot of misinformation and misrepresentation when it comes to postpartum,  often referred to as the fourth trimester,” said Knix Founder & CEO Joanna Griffiths. “It’s either forgotten about or the experience is depicted in an unrealistic way. Life After Birth aims to honour the postpartum journey and strength found within an experience that  changes you forever.” Griffiths made headlines earlier this year for raising a $40 Million funding round while pregnant with twins, disqualifying any investor who commented negatively on her pregnancy.  

“Every birth experience and every journey leading to birth and thereafter is different. In the absence of these stories it can become quite an isolating experience,” explains  Carriage House Birth co-founder and doula, Domino Kirke-Badgley. “From the moment of  birth, the at home healing process, navigating feeding, fertility and loss, to reframing how  we look at ourselves and our changing identity and bodies, the Life After Birth book  brings a first-of-its kind perspective that you aren’t postpartum for a matter of days, or  weeks, you are postpartum forever.”  

Published and distributed globally by world renowned publisher Rizzoli, 100 percent of  Knix and Carriage House Birth’s proceeds will be donated to The Black Women’s Health  Imperative to support the NOURISH program — a Postpartum Doula training and scholarship program created in partnership with Knix that is designed to address disparities in postpartum mental health and deaths among Black birthing families.

This is a natural continuation of Knix’s Life After Birth Project, which launched in August  2019 and began as a photo exhibition in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto and Vancouver,  featuring the postpartum images and stories of over 750 birthing people, including  Jemima Kirke, Christy Turlington, Jenny Bird, Rebecca Minkoff and more.  

In tandem with Life After Birth, Knix is launching a new maternity/postpartum collection to help birthing people feel comfortable and supported from pregnancy to postpartum.  $1 from every item purchased from the collection will also be donated to The Black  Women’s Health Imperative’s NOURISH program.  

Life After Birth: Portraits of Love and the Beauty of Parenthood is available at Knix.ca and your local bookstore.