What is an Ayurvedic Postpartum Doula?

An Ayurvedic Postpartum Doula is someone who has been trained in postpartum care that includes physical and emotional support of the new mother and baby, but with a specific emphasis on utilizing traditional Ayurvedic practices and techniques as a framework for that care. 

​In the U.S., postpartum care is lacking, oftentimes leaving new mothers and babies to manage this crucial transition for themselves. Unlike in many non-Western cultures where robust postpartum care traditions exist, here in the States, there's often a sense of abandonment post-birth.

Without formalized support, mothers may feel overwhelmed despite the joy of having a new baby.

Many ancient cultures prioritized postpartum care, offering rituals and support systems that aid in the mother's transition. The culture in which Ayurveda arose, the Vedic culture, is one the remains intact and provides a wealth of postpartum care options for the new mother, baby and the entire family.

Ayurvedic Postpartum Doulas offer an affordable solution to this dearth of care.

Drawing on Ayurvedic wisdom, they provide nurturing care during the crucial 42-day postpartum period, known as the "Sacred Window," facilitating recovery, bonding, routine establishment, family adaptation, and maternal wellbeing. When Mama does well, the whole family does well!

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Postpartum doulas have grown in popularity in the last several years, filling a void of care that is crucial during the six weeks following birth. Learn why has postpartum care been forgotten here in the U.S." 

Mughal Birth Image, source unknown. I have found a few references to this painting, but no sources are reliable. Nevertheless, it is an exquisite and unique example of communal birth and care.

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What does an Ayurvedic postpartum doula DO?

• Postpartum doulas have grown in popularity in the last several years, filling a void of care that is crucial during the six weeks following birth. (Learn why postpartum care been forgotten here in the U.S.)
  
• The Ayurvedic methods of postpartum care have a long history of helping new mothers, new babies, and new families thrive and find greater wellbeing after the birth of the baby.
• In most cultures outside the U.S., postpartum care of the mother by other women within the family or community is the norm. In India, along with other ancient cultures that have remained intact despite the advent of colonization, it has always been this way.​
• An Ayurvedic postpartum doula is one answer to the general dearth of postpartum care - she helps fill the gap that exists within the healthcare system for new mothers - offering the means to cultivating wellbeing, joy and vitality for themselves and their families. ​

You can choose from amongst a wide variety of In-Home Doula Services. As both an experienced mother of three, AND an Ayurvedic postpartum doula, I can offer you any/all of the following services on a sliding scale hourly basis:
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• Postpartum planning and support in the weeks before L&D - i.e. organizing a postpartum care/support calendar, help recruiting friends and family, help formulating a "meal train" for when you first arrive home.
• Providing meal train volunteers with recipes and guidance for nourishing, mama-appropriate postpartum menu/meals.
• An ayurvedic postpartum recipe booklet for the whole family
• Sensible, gentle support with the transition into life at home with a newborn
• Lactation support, snacks and herbal teas
• Ayurvedic Belly Binding and/or C-Section care
• Hot castor pack training, for resolving scar tissue/adhesions (after six months+ C-Section post-op)
• Ayurvedic Herbal Sitz Bath Blends/Teas to soothe and ease healing
• Ayurvedic baby care and education
• Training in Ayurvedic baby massage with warm oil - for mother or father - to promote bonding, improve digestion, sooth entry into life.
• Special Ayurvedic meals for the whole family. which promote regrounding and nourishment, prepared by me and brought to you!
• Special Abhyanga warm oil treatments for Mama, to help ground, bring greater ease, improve circulation, nourish and promote better rest and immunity. (Abhyanga is a distinctly Ayurvedic skin/body treatment, chood from either a mini - face, shoulders, arms, hands, feet - OR a full body warm oil treatment! Price upon request.)

Most or even all of these treatments and services benefit women at all stages of life!
I offer these services to mothers many months or even YEARS post partum, AND to perimenopausal and menopausal women, too! (For example, I use hot castor packs for self-care around digestion issues or back pain - and I didn't experience belly binding or vaginal steaming until I was in my early 50s during perimenopause, almost a quarter century after the birth of my son! Yet these treatments had a profound effect on my wellbeing as I transitioned into the wise woman stage of life.) 

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Do I really need a postpartum doula?

The short answer is, YES. It is incredibly difficult to both manage and care for your baby and for yourself with little to no support during the postpartum window. Ayurveda methods of caring for the mother offer a profoundly effective, gentle, wise and integrated program of postpartum care that anyone can ultimately learn, integrate and do for themselves with guidance and support.

Our culture here in the States has lost similar women's knowledge - it has been eradicated from our collective ancestral memories. And so, we must humbly turn to this knowledge that has survived intact to this day, regardless of efforts to eradicate it as well. 

It is an honor to be able to share these incredibly wise and gentle  teachings that come to us intact from India, and through their practice, to help shift our cultural neglect of new mothers. It is this neglect that most definitely contributes to postpartum overwhelm, postpartum depression and to maternal and infant mortality here - and this is  especially obvious when we compare U.S. statistics  to similarly "highly developed" health care systems in countries that do provide robust postpartum care.  

In India, Ayurvedic postpartum care of mothers in general is part and parcel of the birthing process - even to this day. A woman's family, extended family and village comes together to help make the transition from pregnant, expectant mother to new mother and to welcome the baby into its new family. 

​The nourishing, rejuvenating, revitalizing care necessary during the sacred postpartum window can't be self-administered! It must be provided to you, so that as a new mother, you can focus on getting rest and rejuvenation to rebuild the energy that will help you better focus on the loving care of your new baby - and your growing family!  

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Reach out to me to learn more. 
When Mama does well, the whole family does well. 

What is provided?

I offer a wide variety of consultation and treatment services, including:

• Postpartum planning and organization of meal "train" in the weeks before delivery
• Postpartum booklet of recipes/menus for the new family and shared with friends and family who wish to help, too
  
• Preparation of Ayurvedic family meal(s) that nourish, ground and soothe the whole family (includes shopping for ingredients, too! Meals can be prepared in your home or cooked in mine and brought to you!) 
• Care of baby as directed by mama (so she can nap!)
• Guidance on soothing and swaddling techniques
• Lactation support
• Emotional Support, a empathetic, listening ear!
  
• Light housework (laundry, vacuuming

Every postpartum client will receive:

• Ayurvedic postpartum recipe book with dozens of great recipes to savor and enjoy during the sacred postpartum time.
• Herbal lactation promoting tea blend
• Herbal digestive strengthening tea blend
• Herbal self-care sitz bath soothing blend​

General Doula Pricing

Outside of Ayurvedic postpartum treatments, pricing for basic in home Ayurvedic postpartum doula services is upon a sliding scale fee, per hour of care:

Lower income-bracket fees: $30/hour
Median income-bracket fees: $50/hour
Upper income-bracket fees: $70/hour

For example, I can come 4 hours a week for the first 3 weeks. For a couple of median income, that's $600.

Everyone, regardless of income level, should have access to these life-giving services. Offering them upon a sliding scale enables you to create your postpartum care plan with as much or as little of my help as you need, ideally at a price you can afford. Reach out if this scale is out of reach.

I also offer rejuvenating Ayurvedic treatments, specifically designed to nourish and heal you, available 3+ days postpartum, also on a sliding scale:

• ​​One hour, in-home Full Body Abhyanga/Warm herbal oil treatment for Mama! $85-$145 (I bring my treatment table and gear to your home!)
• 30 minute Head, Hands and Feet Abhyanga/Warm herbal oil treatment for Mama: $50-$65-$80
• One hour training in Soothing Touch Baby Massage: $35-45-$55: This Ayurvedic traditional infant massage, using natural organic oils, helps relieve gassiness and upset tummy, for better digstion and longer sleep intervals.
• $65-$75-$85: Organic muslin Belly Wrapping (including your own muslin wrap!) Heal and restore balance with 100% organic muslin belly wrap that gently hugs your hips and belly in a warm tuck. When done properly a beautifully wrapped belly bind can support the pelvic floor and offer a gentle hold of muscle and ligaments safely in place as your body heals.

My own beautiful babies!

Learn my postpartum stories here: my-postpartum-stories-or-why-i-want-to-be-an-ayurvedic-postpartum-doula.html

I am honored to study, practice and share this wise, ancient and beautiful Indian knowledge system of Life with you, to help empower all women, most especially, new mothers!

• As someone who has personally benefitted from the deep and ancient healing wisdom of yoga and Ayurveda, I feel called to offer a higher level of postpartum care to mothers and families who understand they need more support after their baby is born, who acknowledge that they need more help.
• I was have been practicing an Ayurvedic lifestyle for well over a decade. I continue to be an avid student of Ayurveda: recently, I completed my Foundations of Ayurveda I&II courses with Dr. Robert Svoboda and Dr. Claudia Welch in 2021, and also completed her Women's Health and Hormones course in 2022.
• I graduated from the Ayurvedic Postpartum Doula Certification Program of the Ayurvedic Center of Vermont in the Spring of 2023, and I am currently enrolled in Kripalu's 650-hour Clinical Ayurvedic Health Counselor program, graduating May of 2024.
• I am passionate about the deep and ancient healing wisdom that is shared through Ayurveda - and passionate about the need to change the culture around the care of women - especially mothers and baby's postpartum - here.