Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Harrell.
Hi Lauren, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started my nursing career in 2018, working within the hospital system in various roles but always caring for infants, children, and families. Through both my professional work and my personal journey after having my three children, I became very aware of how little true prenatal education and postpartum support most families receive.
I saw parents walking into birth unprepared—just like I did with my first baby—believing that because birth and breastfeeding are “natural,” they don’t require preparation. Unfortunately, my first experience reflected that. My birth became heavily managed and medicalized, and it was far from the empowered experience I hoped for. Breastfeeding was also incredibly challenging, and I didn’t realize there were resources and support that could have helped me.
Everything shifted with my second pregnancy. I became determined to have a different experience, so I educated myself deeply on birth, physiology, and evidence-based breastfeeding support. I took quality classes and even hired a lactation consultant prenatally. The difference was night and day—my birth and breastfeeding journey were positive, powerful, and healing. The same was true for my third baby. That transformation lit a fire in me.
I realized that education before birth was the missing piece for so many families. I felt called to step out of the reactive hospital model and into proactive, preventative education. I wanted to walk alongside moms, support them, and help them feel informed and confident before their baby even arrived.
I launched Thrive Mama at the beginning of 2025, and since then we’ve supported nearly 500 families through prenatal classes and lactation/infant feeding consultations. Our first in-person class series in Kernersville, NC—covering birth, breastfeeding, newborn/postpartum care, infant CPR, and childhood illness—sold out immediately. We quickly outgrew our original venue as more and more families joined us. These classes were created to help mothers truly thrive in early parenthood—hence the name Thrive Mama.
As our demand grew and our Instagram community expanded, moms across the country began asking for access to our classes. In May 2025, we launched our online versions, allowing expecting families everywhere to learn from home and book virtual lactation consultations with our team.
This growth has been such a blessing. I’m honored every day to support families during such a precious season. My mission is simple: to help mothers have informed births and positive breastfeeding experiences—because those things can change everything!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely hasn’t been a completely smooth road. Leaving the hospital system was a huge leap of faith for me. Nursing was all I had ever known professionally, and my heart was pulled in two directions—one toward the security and familiarity of traditional nursing, and the other toward this strong calling to educate and support families in a deeper, more proactive way. Ultimately, I had to trust that stepping out was the right choice, even without knowing exactly what the path ahead would look like.
Growing a business while being a mom to three small children has also been one of my biggest challenges. I’m building Thrive Mama during naptimes, early mornings, and late nights—juggling the roles of mother, wife, business owner, educator, and everything in between. It’s a constant balancing act, and I’ve had to learn how to set boundaries, how to prioritize, and how to give myself grace on the days when things feel messy.
Figuring out how to actually run and grow a business has been its own learning curve, too. From developing classes, to managing social media, to handling admin work, to expanding our team—none of it came with a handbook. I’ve had to grow, adapt, and stretch in ways I never expected.
But even with the challenges, it’s been deeply rewarding. Every message from a mom who feels more confident, every family we support, every birth or feeding experience that improves because of education—it all reminds me why I took that leap in the first place.
We’ve been impressed with Thrive Mama , but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Thrive Mama is a prenatal education and lactation support company offering comprehensive online classes and both virtual and in-person (Kernersville, NC) lactation consultations. What we’re most known for and what truly sets us apart, is that our classes are not the typical generic hospital education.
Hospital classes are often brief, standardized, and very medically oriented. They tend to focus on procedures, policies, and what the hospital does, not how birth actually works or how families can participate in their own experience. Thrive Mama takes a completely different approach.
Our education blends the conventional, evidence-based side of medicine, and my nursing experience, with a deep understanding of the physiology of birth. We teach families how the body is designed to labor, how to support that natural process, and how to work with your body instead of against it. We also teach when medication and interventions are truly helpful and necessary because they absolutely have their place. The key is balance. Not every birth needs to be heavily managed, and often unnecessary management can create more challenges.
My goal is to give mothers informed consent and true informed choice. I want them to walk into birth understanding their options, knowing how to advocate for themselves, and feeling confident, not confused, pressured, or unsure. When families understand birth and breastfeeding beforehand, they can make decisions that align with their values and have more positive experiences overall.
What I’m most proud of is that Thrive Mama gives parents the education they wish they had the first time. Our classes are practical, empowering, and rooted in both clinical expertise and real-life experience. Whether families join us online from across the country or work with us locally in the Kernersville area, our mission is the same: to help them step into birth and early parenthood with clarity, confidence, and support.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I’m the oldest of four, and I’ve always loved spending time with my siblings. Some of my favorite childhood memories are from our trips to our family lakehouse at Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia. We’d spend hours tubing, skiing, and just being out on the water together. Since my birthday is around Labor Day weekend, the lake always felt like the perfect place to celebrate and make lasting memories with family.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thethrivemama.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thethrivemama/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/The-Thrive-Mama-61568825033225/
