Postpartum Care

Bringing a baby into the world is powerful, beautiful, and honestly, often overwhelming. 

Whether you’re navigating emotional upheaval, physical recovery, birth trauma, identity shifts, or simply want a gentle, grounded, and empathetic presence by your side, I’m here to support you.

As a postpartum doula and NeuroEmotional coach, I combine practical hands-on care with tools that help you regulate your nervous system, process big emotions, and reconnect with yourself.

I basically came out of the womb obsessed with babies. As a kid, on my walks home from rural school, I used to daydream that I might come upon a baby in my path that would need me to scoop it up and care for it.  I’ve been caring for babies since my sister was born when I was 3 - for almost my entire life - and the spark for loving on babies and their parents has only brightened. 

After birthing and raising my own 4 babies, my passion expanded to the often overlooked needs of parents, so postpartum doula/emotional support work has become my ideal role. 

As parents, we deal with overwhelm, doubt, powerlessness, bewilderment, frustration, grief, and exhaustion in addition to the love, tenderness, fulfillment, and joy that parenting brings. 

So if you are near or far, and you’re expecting a baby or know someone who is, or if you already have a baby or child(ren) - postpartum is forever, after all- we can be together in the magic and the monotony and the mayhem.

Why It Matters:

The postpartum period after birth, or the 4th trimester, is a tender and important window that can inform an entire family’s future, especially that of baby and birth parent.

• Rest and healing is critical for the parent who has just grown a baby and a placenta within 40-ish weeks, and then given birth, either through labor or via major surgery.

  But rest is easier said than done. If we are being held and supported by our village, it may be doable to rest while other tasks and children are being tended to - but we live in a day and age where the village is more sparse than we often need. My role in many ways, is to be the village. I help make it possible for families to rest and heal, while being able to trust that the rest of life will be handled and held and helped.

  One way that I go about this is to treat the birth parent like my own baby, so to speak. :) When the whole goal of a new parent’s life becomes caring for and keeping a brand new being alive and thriving, I offer some of that same tending and warm coziness and care to the parent whose body just brought forth life.

  This may include optional tender care such as foot rubs, preparing and offering food and water and tea, physical wrapping/holding through a gentle and intentional process, light lymph massage, brushing/French braiding hair, listening, and offering empathy and emotional support.

  This period of rest and healing can also provide an opportunity for the body to even heal past untreated or unresolved injuries, something called a championship window. This podcast episode illustrates this phenomenon:

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/863/transcript#:~:text=This%20kind%20of%20methodical%20postpartum,to%20be%20the%20exact%20opposite.

• The 4th trimester is also a critically important time in a baby’s nervous system development. A baby's brain continues rapid development after birth and builds neural pathways by interacting with their environment. Caregivers have a chance to help their baby build a robust, safe-feeling nervous system through responsive, connected parenting. And when the newborn days can be hectic, who better to be supported by in this endeavor than someone who has had thousands of hours of practice at soothing and responding to babies - and empathizing with parents.

• Besides the massive physiological shifts that a person experiences with pregnancy and birth, there are also understandably major shifts in identity, which can even include a sense of grief/loss. I provide non-judgmental, gentle understanding of this experience, and I offer powerful emotional support and processing for these shifts and feelings.

• The postpartum period also offers a time frame for practical training and teaching parents in such things as baby wearing, safe co-sleeping, transferring sleeping baby out of arms, soothing fussy babies, learning Elimination Communication, and assisting with siblings adjustment to new baby, among many other things.

How to Fund This:

One especially beautiful way to secure my support for the 4th trimester is to design the baby registry with my postpartum doula support in mind.

Create a website/GoFundMe/Meal Train or other place to donate funds (we can discuss ideas together) to enlist your extended village to bring me into your home as the hands of the village.

This is especially useful for folks whose families live far away and who wish to participate in helping the new family get off to a robust and nurtured start.

Many clients find that grandparents and extended family are eager to pitch in towards this sweet nest-building.

And in an age where mutual aid and community are more important than ever, our chosen family and friends can contribute towards this massively impactful gift that situates an entire family with a blueprint for stability and success.

How It Works:

1. At some point during pregnancy, partners will decide how they would like birth and postpartum to go, get on the same page, then

2. Schedule a consult meeting with me!

3. We collaborate to design the first couple weeks of acute support.

4. Baby is born.

5. Let the rest of the baby days unfold in good hands.

5 Reasons Postpartum Doula Care Can Actually Save You Money in the Long Run:

1. Reduced Maternal Healthcare Costs

• 1 in 8 women experience postpartum depression (CDC).

• Untreated PPD costs an estimated $32,000 per mother-child pair over five years (Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance, 2022).

• Proactive care like screening, therapy, and community support costs far less and prevents expensive crises such as emergency care or hospitalization.

2. Improved Infant Health and Development

• Children of mothers with untreated PPD face higher risks for developmental delays and behavioral issues.

• Every $1 spent on early intervention saves up to $13 in long-term costs (education, healthcare, justice system — Zero to Three).

3. Increased Workforce Retention and Productivity

• Postpartum care supports timely, healthy return to work, reducing burnout and attrition.

• A PwC Australia (2020) study found a $2.30 return for every $1 invested in perinatal mental health services through higher productivity and lower absenteeism.

4. Prevention of Long-Term Chronic Illness

• Postpartum neglect increases long-term risk of heart disease, autoimmune issues, and diabetes — especially for those who had pregnancy complications (AHA).

• Preventative postpartum care lowers long-term Medicare and Medicaid costs.

5. Emotional Health and Resilience for the Next Generation

• Secure attachment and parental regulation fostered through adequate care leads to better emotional, educational, and economic outcomes for children (Harvard Center on the Developing Child).

In summary, postpartum care is not just compassionate — it's fiscally smart. It reduces immediate and long-term public and private spending while boosting health, productivity, and resilience across generations.

Investing in postpartum care invests in our collective well-being as well economic stability.

Why Combine Doula Support + Emotional Coaching?

Because your body and emotions are one system.

Your nervous system, emotional system and executive function all operate within your one unique and special body.
Birth is a full-body experience. So is postpartum.
This work helps you recover on all levels — practical, physical, emotional, and energetic.
You’ll feel held and empowered.

AND

Both parents need support in navigating this big deal.

The non-birthing parent is often given messaging about caring for the birthing parent - but it can be easier said than done if they are pouring from an empty or scarce cup.

One of my roles is to be there for the non-birthing parent so that they have an outlet and place to process all of the normal and understandable feelings and experiences that birth and postpartum bring up.

This way, they can show up even more fully for their partner and bond even more deeply with their new baby.

What It’s Like to Work Together:

• Warm, gentle, nonjudgmental support

• Deep presence — no “fixing,” no rushing

• Flexible packages — support that fits your needs

• Trauma-aware, LGBTQIA+ affirming, culturally respectful care

Rooted in science and soul.

How to get started:

Contact me for a complimentary consult!