Helping Mothers Thrive

Jessica Peterson, OTR, MSOT and Gayle Schwee, OTR, MOT co-founded Matresecence Occupational Therapy to provide community-based OT services to support clients during the transition to motherhood. They started this practice to fill a gap in maternal and perinatal health and wellness during a time of physical, hormonal, and psychological changes in a mother's life.

Jessica is an occupational therapist, mother of two, and aerial hobbyist. Born and raised in southern California, Jessica moved to Austin, TX after finishing grad school and has over a decade of experience in SNF and acute care. Jessica is currently a post-professional doctoral student at Boston University. Her capstone project came out of the realization that occupations of motherhood were rarely directly addressed by OTs. Jessica is in the process of developing a resource and education website for OT practitioners working with parents with physical disabilities.

Gayle is a born and raised Texan with Filipinx roots. Occupational therapy became her second career when she realized she was inclined to be a care provider. Her most recent clinical experience is in acute care in Austin, Texas, where she met Jessica. With the birth of her first child during the beginning of the pandemic, Gayle's passion has shifted to advocating for and empowering the birthing person through the transition from pregnancy to parent.

Through Matrescence OT, Jessica and Gayle are bringing occupational therapy services to mothers in their community to address barriers during the physical, psychological, and personal transformation of motherhood. They can be reached at www.matrescenceOT.com or [e-mail]. They can be found on social media @matrescence_ot.