Creating a postpartum plan? Does it include healing food and lactogenic meals? If your family isn’t already providing this nourishment, doulas can cook up a storm and be there to serve you all the nutrition, nurturing, and healing that home-prepared foods have to offer. If you have read THE FIRST 40 DAYS, you might be inspired to get the nest building support of a doula in the first month or so.

Are you a partner who wants to help but isn’t sure how? Consider her line of vision…what does she see, what is in front of her for HOURS every day while she is holding and feeding baby? This gives us a clue how to help…

So many moms have asked this question over the years, I thought I would collect some answers here that I have heard from moms group (and some I have tried myself) and see if they help out some new mamas.

Get out your calendars and let’s plan for baby’s early weeks!

BTW Good news, they start responsively smiling during this time and I’m pretty sure it was built into the design of babies to smile right before they get WAY harder!

Thought I might start this year with a blog about adding a new baby to the family. As we have welcomed so many new babies this season with older siblings, I thought it would be appropriate to share a few of the things we are learning from the families.

Professionals are available to answer your questions. Please call them! But when it comes to YOUR baby, your instinct matters! Don't feel like you need to have medical knowledge to know when something is wrong. Listen to your gut.

Here are the facts: Parents are told to keep their babies on their back in a crib in their room, but the vast majority aren't following this guideline. Parents are bedsharing with their infants. Most of them are breastfeeding families. The majority are not telling their doctors.

So important to normalize this as it can be shocker for the first time parent and grandparent, as well as confusing watching the colors change during the time frame of breast and chest feeding.

Dozens of mamas have agonized over this task as they prepare to go back to work, or their partner or relative desperately wants to be included in the feeding. It often results in a lot of anxiety for the breastfeeding mother, and certainly for the baby's caregivers as well.  Here are some tips to help!

Sometimes we try every position we can think of to make babies happy, and nothing seems to work. We try up on the shoulder, over the arm, superman flying, tummy to tummy, cradle style...and still we don't find the sweet spot that puts baby at ease.

One question I often face as we plan their doula support is how they can continue to meet their older child's needs as well as the new baby's. I won't pretend to have mastery over this, but I can offer some helpful hints that clients have told me saved their relationship with their older child. One of my favorite tips is called PAY IT FORWARD.

Sunday nights are very popular requests for overnight doula care. Monday mornings are often flooded with calls from families who packed a lot into their weekend and now realize that more support would make a big difference. When families lack sleep, overnight care can make huge deposits in your sleep bank, and help get you back on track.

Pelvic health can be achieved, even with the changes that pregnancy and birth bring (both vaginal and cesarean). Muscles can be trained to work properly, but that takes professional guidance, and knowledge that most women don't automatically know.

Are you a partner who wants to know how to support a breastfeeding parent? The 3 bowl rule is for you!

Have you ever been hungry and wished there was “a little something” set aside for you?

This is one thing we do as doulas! Make, prep, or package up a little something for hungry breastfeeding parents, or tired new moms who forget to eat. Here is how to make that magic for those you love.

I've been looking at baby succulents lately and wanting to squeeze them, just like a fresh new baby! I love how our baby plants inspire our caretaking abilities just like little babies too. We just want to take care of them and help them thrive!

As we help parents prepare for their coming babies, we are building confident new parents who understand what babies are saying, are able to respond to their needs, and who can also take care of themselves during this unpredictable time.

New parents are the most fun to work with. Yes, of course we love to work with babies! But babies have been doing similar things forever, and parents have to navigate this whole new world of newborn life, with more information than ever, without family traveling to support them, and during a world wide pandemic. It can be HUGE.

Birth is meant to be transformative. What we do not plan for is the massive recovery period after birth (we call it postpartum, but that just usually means depression to the majority, even though it is something that everyone goes through after having a baby).

After teaching breastfeeding online this week, I noticed I was highlighting this concept frequently. Using the support around you (even though limited with Covid) is still essential to success. Partners, your extended family, your neighbors or community members, and professionals are all available to some degree to support you as you begin your journey with breastfeeding or chestfeeding. Don't try to tough it out.