Meet Dr. Brit Harmon: Preconception Specialist & Physical Therapist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. Brit Harmon and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. Brit, maybe we can start at the very start – the idea – how did you come up with the idea for your business?
As I was working towards my doctorate in physical therapy, I was always interested in pregnancy and postpartum. All of the incredible things a women’s body went through were fascinating to me. It felt like real life magic. Though, when I graduated, I naturally fell into working in pediatrics, another love of mine. After a few years in my field working with children, some important women in my life starting having babies. It was the night of my bachelorette party when I overhead my sister-in-law and two close female friends of mine talking together. They didn’t know each other prior to this but were opening up about their experiences during pregnancy and early motherhood. I couldn’t walk away and hearing what I heard made me realize, this was where I belonged. Things like, “I didn’t realize everyone experienced that” and “I felt so alone”, were enough to make me want to up and change my entire career path. From there I started researching and taking continuing education courses. While I enjoyed learning about the postpartum period, I felt like there was more. I’ve always believed in preventative medicine over all else and I knew there had to be a way to incorporate that into this situation. And there was. I was listening to a podcast one day where a nurse was talking about preconception care, basically preparing a women’s body for pregnancy, and that’s when it clicked. This was where I needed to be. I knew if we, as women, truly prepared our bodies for pregnancy (if we were lucky enough to do so) there would be a big difference in everything we experienced during pregnancy as well as during the postpartum period. And from this, my business was truly born. 

What should our readers know about your business?
Bloom EmBody is about helping women Bloom into pregnancy and motherhood and be able to EmBody what it truly means to be an empowered women during this entire process. Will there be things we still go through? Of course! But thats a part of it too. It’s the biggest transition of our life and our goal is for you to innately KNOW you can get through it while feeling empowered and strong. We focus on movement, sleep, rest, lifestyle, hydration and preparing your body from a physical therapy perspective including your pelvic floor and alignment. What sets us apart is we are about getting ahead of the over medicalized process that pregnancy can be and getting in tune of what a women’s incredible body is truly capable of. Pregnancy can be a scary time because there are so many unknowns but knowing who to talk to and how to educate yourself is extremely empowering. Preconception care is a developing and new field but it has the ability to make a difference in so many lives, Momma, Baby and the whole family, so I am extremely proud to be a part of it. As happened with a lot of people, the extra time I had during COVID allowed me to really hone in on what I wanted my business to look like and I found a lot of clarity. I knew I didn’t want to be limited to just working with people locally. While I focus a lot on my local community and the importance of that, I also wanted to be able to help more people. This is what turned us into a virtual consult company and it has been working great. Being a newer business, I am honestly learning something new everyday, what works and what doesn’t work. It took me a moment to get to the place where I didn’t judge myself for what doesn’t work. Early on, I let that get me down but now, I see it as a learning moment. “Failures” just mean I need to adjust course and come up with a different plan. I realize the possibilities are endless when you are the one making the decisions. And I’m here for it! I’m here for being a change seeker in a world where it’s easy to follow the status quo. In this case, and especially in our country, the status quo isn’t working for pregnancy anymore. Mommas aren’t supported the way they need to be and I’m done accepting this reality. I believe it is one of the most important missing pieces in our society and giving women the ability to feel in control of their body as they go through this process will change the world. Over the past few months, my partner, Loren with Innate Nutrition and I have been developing a online preconception course that focuses on all aspects of preparing your body for pregnancy. She is extremely knowledge on the nutrition side of things, which is the perfect addition to the pieces I offer. We are very excited to get this out to the world!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This is a great one. First thing that pops into my mind is the farmers market on Pearl Street. It’s the best. So many talented local artists and yummy cuisines. Some of my favorites are popcorn from Kettle Head Popcorn, honey from Bjorn’s Colorado Honey, jam from Brad B Jammin, and fresh juice from The Juicing Tree. Then we would stop by some of the local farm stands for some fresh produce. Finishing it off with a stop in my favorite consignment shop, where almost all my clothes are from, Common Threads. We may pop over to Stella’s Coffee Haus or Steam Espresso Bar for a cup of coffee as well. Another day, we’d definitely take a visit to Cheesman Park, my favorite, for some slack-lining or soccer. At night we would hit up a few of my favorite food places, Kaos on Pearl Street (best chocolate cake), Avanti in LoHi (so many delicious options) or Colore in SoBo (just straight up delicious). Other great day trip would be to the Free Market in Denver, where we would stop in my favorite eco conscious store, The Conscious Merchant, where I get my supplies for our household. We would also check out the Denver Milk Market and the pop over to RiNo and Larimer St to walk around. Definitely checking out on of my favorite store with local artists, The Modern Nomad. Lastly, we would definitely fit in some rock climbing, my favorite. My home gym is Earth Treks in Englewood, which is one of the biggest climbing gyms in the country. My gosh, I miss all of this!!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
To the three women who unintentionally made me realize this was my life path, Stef, Melissa and Amanda, thank you for be vulnerable and opening up, it changes the world! To my husband, who had no fear when starting his own business and showed me the power of paving your own path, thank you for always believing in me, especially when I didn’t believe in myself. To Margaret, who opened my eyes to the power of caring for myself and who always knew exactly what I needed to stay motivated, thank you for being the best coach ever. And to my parents, who are the most supportive humans I know, thank you for always being there and loving me through it all.

Website: https://www.bloomembody.com/
Instagram: @the.preconception.pt
Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC5ezQ9Uyb7ohyKdoWsSKeew

Image Credits
All images are by Madeline DeVico.