How a $10K donation is transforming postpartum care in Columbus. Meet the founder

The founder of a Columbus company was awarded thousands of dollars from a local bank to expand her business.

Britnee Wheeler received a $10,000 donation from Synovus Bank of Columbus to help her grow and expand her business, Rose Maternity Co., which creates maternity and postpartum products. Wheeler received the donation through winning the StartUP Columbus’ BizPitch competition.

“My goal is to help business owners in my community, like Britnee, get to where they want to be,” Penny Good, retail market manager at Synovus, said in the bank’s news release. “I want my business clients to see me as a trusted advisor who has worked to understand their specific business needs – someone they would consider a true business partner.”

With the donation, Wheeler has begun testing an expansion to her product line, including prototype testing of period undergarments modeled similarly to her postpartum recovery kits.

“Based on those funds that I received, I was able to reinvest to start the research and development process for the [period] underwear,” Wheeler told the Ledger-Enquirer. “I was also to begin the process of sourcing and all the things so I could bring that period care line from idea to actually a true product.”

Rose Maternity Co., named after Wheeler’s late grandmother Rose, creates products aiding in recovery and relief throughout phases of pregnancy and postpartum. Wheeler, a mother of five children, said her idea to start this business came through struggles in her postpartum journey.

“I’ve used my own inventions through my own pregnancies,” Wheeler said. “I’m a mom of five, military spouse, and my husband deploys quite frequently. And, I have a 9-to-5. I’m doing all the things. When I was raising and having my children, I didn’t have the supportive undergarments that helped me recover, because life kept happening and things kept coming down the pipeline.”

Rose Maternity offers a postpartum care line and a personal care line. The company’s postpartum care features its undergarment line, called RoseRelief, which has a built-in pocket, where the customer can place heating or ice gel packs to provide relief after delivery. The recovery ice and heat pack is included in their postpartum essential bundle.

Heating and cooling play significant roles in pain management and healing in the postpartum period. Cooling helps reduce swelling and pain in the perineal area, while heating helps relax muscles and aid in uterine contractions.

Rose Maternity’s personal care line features personal cosmetic products, like a body lotion and oil, to help moms relax, Wheeler said.

“Everything that we’ve created is to help put that focus back on the mom, because everything is about the baby at that point,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler said she felt as if there was a gap in care around the postpartum period. Doctors mainly focus on preparing mothers to have a healthy delivery, she said, and they don’t adequately prepare them with information about what comes next.

“Everything was just delivery, delivery, delivery,” Wheeler said. “And then you have the baby, and they’re like, ‘Yeah, I’ll see you in six weeks. Good luck.’ There’s a lot that happens to a mom’s body in that period of time. If I had known what I know now, I would have had a better experience, especially being by myself. I felt there’s a gap in communication and knowledge transfer from having a baby to taking care of yourself.”

By day, Wheeler works as a human resources business partner. Her work at Rose Maternity happens after hours and on weekends, she said. She attributes her business’ growing success to her family, who she calls “Team Wheeler.” Her children help with order packaging and are “dialed in and engaged” with ways they can help their mom succeed, she said.

“My kids aren’t like normal kids,” Wheeler said. “They’re like, ‘Hey, did you sell something today? Do we need to go to the store and drop something off?’”

Wheeler has helped over 1,000 moms in their postpartum journeys, she said, and she hopes to help even more. She wants to expand her business to where her postpartum products are prescribed and covered by medical insurance, so mothers in need would have access to her products. She also hopes to continue donating more of her postpartum relief kits to women’s shelters.

Helping women in these sensitive periods of their life is her “northern star,” Wheeler said.

“What you see on videos on childbirth is this crazy, weird experience, but you don’t have to go that route,” she said. “You can have a soft, comfortable recovery and delivery. It doesn’t have to be so doom and gloom. There are resources out there. There are tools out there to help you be comfortable.”

This story was originally published April 22, 2025 at 8:11 AM.