The Blog

“Should I write a blog post the day before Thanksgiving, the holiday that launches what is the largest consumer season (and my least favorite aspect) of the year?” “Should I celebrate this particular holiday, when it represents colonization and genocide for so many?” “Should I be grateful just because the holiday on the calendar says…

A Sleep Coach’s Top 6 Tips for Better Newborn Sleep  Guest post by Liz Harden, MPH Sleep education is nonexistent in our education system, despite us spending one third of our lives sleeping. Pediatricians receive just a couple hours of sleep education in medical school, at best. The sad and unhealthy truth is that our…

Creating a bangin’ postpartum resource list is a great way to feel, well…  resourced!  Whether you are a doula, other perinatal professional, or expecting a baby yourself, it’s good to see who’s out there offering services that may be needed during the postpartum time, before you might need them. It takes time to find the…

The first time I heard the term “bodyfeeding”, my entire inner response was YES! I love this word, not just because it’s a gender-inclusive term for parents who do not identify with “breastfeeding”, but also because the experience of feeding a baby involves the entire body, including the mind and the heart. We are so…

New families have so many options for postpartum support these days, which is a wonderful thing AND a bit confusing. We’re going to help clarify the most common types of providers, and the differences between postpartum doulas, night nurses, night nannies, and newborn care specialists. Let’s dive in… Night Nurses: Focus primarily on overnight care…

Capitalism is harming us in so many ways. I’ve heard from three parents in the same number of days that they feel like they are doing something wrong, or that something is wrong with their babies. In all three cases, these feelings were associated with what some of us doulas call the “week three phenomenon.”…

Doula care is impactful. Most parents will say that they couldn’t have done it- their birth and/or postpartum time- without their doula. But the most important components of doula care, and the “it” that parents speak of, are often not categorizable. And the quantification of doula care can reduce its impact. However, some within the…

Companioning is a stealth and necessary skill, an art form in and of itself which can take some time for new doulas to feel at ease with. Postpartum doulas often feel they should be “doing something” or “saying the right thing” or just have a general sense that they could be doing more.  Yes, there…

As a postpartum doula and doula trainer, I get this question a LOT. Everyone from family, friends, and expectant parents, to care providers, and even other doulas. Usually birth doulas who don’t offer postpartum care, but yes, sometimes even other postpartum doulas! As my own father still likes to say, “a do-what?!”  Because we mostly…

There’s been a quiet yet problematic phenomenon in the perinatal world for decades now. It isn’t the birth plan not being taken seriously (though that does happen) or parents not getting everything on their baby registry (which is a total bummer, for sure) or even parents experiencing anxiety just trying to figure out which car…