Herbs have been incorporated into pregnancy, labor and postpartum for all of human history. Today we are joined by a beautiful human, Kay'aleya Hunnybee, who is an herbalist and integrative health educator that focuses on perinatal and postpartum timeframes. She joins us today to talk about herbal safety and use in the postpartum period. Herbs carry so many diverse benefits and can be incorporated in a way that feels right for your family.

Snacks are vital to all parts of life in my opinion. They are quick fuel for tired days, they stabilize blood sugar, they lift mood, they are just generally magic. In the postpartum period you need to eat sufficient amounts of food. It takes a great deal of work for your body to heal after giving birth and eating enough food helps your body do that. The 4th Trimester is not a time to try to limit your caloric intake or your food groups unless medically necessary. This episode contains some snack tips to help you plan out your food plan for the postpartum time!

As fun as it is to buy cute outfits for baby, it is vital for you to have some practical things on hand for YOURSELF in the postpartum time! Now this ranges from things that literally everyone needs - like a plan to handle bleeding - to things that might make your postpartum time more lovely. Today we’re tackling the practical side of things. What types of essentials do you need for the postpartum period.

How long bleeding may last after birth is a common question. In part for logistical reasons, preparing pads, etc. we want to know that information. In part as a mental preparation to have realistic expectations of what the postpartum time might be like! Lochia is the name of the postpartum bleeding and this episode dives into how long to expect it, what’s normal and how to know if you should be concerned!

As you prepare for the postpartum time it may seem overwhelming thinking about where to start. The postpartum time looks a little different for everybody. So it’s not that there's just one list of things. So while there aren’t just 4 things to check off your list, there are a few questions you can ask yourself to help prepare in a way that feels right for you and your family.

There are many helpful professionals that can be a part of your postpartum time. This list is not exhaustive, but it is a good starting place to consider who you may want to have on your team. In coming episodes we will be hearing from a number of these professionals so stay tuned for that!

At the end of pregnancy many people ask themselves if they are feeling the often-discussed Braxton Hicks contractions. It can be tricky to know if you’re feeling them when you haven’t felt them before! Especially if your baby is an active one! Braxton hicks are classified as tightening of the uterus so oftentimes feeling for soft parts of the uterus help to distinguish between the two.

Fast labor is something that comes up frequently when pregnant families are preparing for birth. If you’ve seen videos of babies being born in cars that’s a natural line of questioning! The reality is that some labors are super fast. Some labors are slow. Both are within the range of normal, but understandably fast labors are more intimidating to families who are looking at the journey for the first time.

Doula Mentoring: empowering you to walk your doula journey out with confidence.

Announcing the launch of my Doula Mentoring Program starting in January 2023!!

So you know you want a doula…what now? Where do you find a doula? What type of doula should you look for? What if there aren’t doulas in your area? Finding a doula near you can be an overwhelming task, so this episode breaks down how to do that. Where to start searching (see a few helpful links for this below!), when to search and how to go about finding a doula who is a great fit for your family.

A Birth Doula plays a unique and important role on a birth team. Across all birthing locations a birth doula is providing a level of support and education that, when done well, allows the rest of the medical team to focus on their jobs well knowing that the patient is well cared for. That is the dream, when a team works together like magic helping a whole family be born in the process

If you’re on the search for a doula and feeling a bit late to the game it may give you hope to know that it’s rarely truly too late to hire a doula. If you’re still pregnant you can hire a birth doula (again, in most cases!) and if you’re within a few years postpartum you can hire a postpartum journey.

You may have a shorter list of available doulas, so be sure to reach out as soon as possible so you can get on with hiring.

Hiring a birth or postpartum doula typically starts with a doula consultation. During that consultation there’s an interview of sorts between the doula (or doulas) and prospective client(s). It should include a back and forth including getting to know each other as well as asking a variety of questions that are relevant to what you’re looking for in a doula.

This episode outlines some questions that can be asked during that interview if you find them helpful.

Birth Doulas are NOT just for unmedicated labors! One more time for the people in the back…birth doulas are not just for people planning an unmedicated birth! Doulas get put into a bit of a woowoo category where people who are using herbs and eating their placenta are the only folks who use them. But that could not be farther from the truth.

If you have a partner supporting you in this pregnancy and postpartum time then you may be worried that a doula will take away that special support by adding a third support person. The reality is that the doula is there for the pregnant person and for partners. The doula should free the partner up to be the partner! Not an expert on pregnancy, labor or postpartum! Your emotional and life support can be just that while your doula is your expert on all things birth and postpartum.

Not many doulas are covered by insurance because there are many barriers for doulas becoming "in network". However there are still ways to make paying for a doula more accessible!

What Are Doula Services? A basic starting place…that maybe we should have started from! :) Doulas are a non-medical support to add to your already existing medical team during birth or postpartum. There are doulas in all sorts of fields, and I’m of the opinion that we all need doulas in a bunch of areas of our life. 

Each Birth Doula works slightly differently, that’s part of the beauty of our work! Some doulas have a variety of options in terms of what is included in a doula package and others have a set standard of what they do with clients. While I can’t guarantee that this episode covers all the variety of how individual doulas work, however it does cover the types that I most often see!

The right time to hire a birth doula is not a straight-forward answer. If only we could say everyone should hire a birth doula by 25 weeks, but it’s not that simple.

This is the first episode in our new series on Doulas. We are starting off with a very basic question: What is the difference between a Birth Doula and a Postpartum Doula? Now, there are many types of doulas, but for the purpose of this series we’ll be focused on those two types specifically.