Postpartum Doula Support

Traditional care witnesses postpartum with deep reverence, & recognizes it as a time that a mother has a rare opportunity to revitalize & replenish herself deeply. It is believed that the postpartum season opens a sacred window in time where a mother can rebuild her internal & external world in a way that will heal & support her for many years to come. The type of care that a mother receives during her postpartum not only sets the foundation for her future health & wellbeing, but for the wellbeing of the entire family unit & community at large.

As a postpartum doula, my deepest intention is to hold space for each mother, while pointing her back to her intuition again & again, & facilitating the healing & integration of her early postpartum season. My main goal is to support a mother in feeling nourished, rested & at peace as she heals & cares for her baby. My services rest on the foundations of traditional postpartum care, & are mother-centered. This means that I focus on serving the needs of the mother in order to support her in feeling resourced & whole as she tends to & nourishes her baby. My work is rooted in the belief that when we care for our mothers, we care for the entire family unit & community at large. When a mother is given a safe space to heal in, & is acknowledged & supported by those who reflect back to her the truth of who she is, she is able to walk the sacred path of motherhood from a more grounded, resourced & empowered space, helping her to raise emotionally secure children, & create a strong foundation for her entire family to grow on.

Food as medicine, herbal support, intentional body care, space holding & sacred ritual is the heartbeat of the offerings you will find here.

According to Ayurveda, the first 42 days influence a woman‘s health and ability to partner well for the next 42 years. The nature of a mother‘s unconditional heart makes it easy for her body to either serve to the point of stress, or reset all tissues and systems in the direction of ideal ability to serve, because there is so much reorganizing after birth that must take place anyway.
— Ysha Oakes

Postpartum Care Packages

A variety of postpartum packages intended to meet different postpartum needs.

Full Postpartum Support Package

The type of nourishment & care a mother receives during the first 42 days following birth lay the foundation for her health & wellbeing for years to come. This offering is for mothers looking for postpartum care & support for the first 6 weeks after birth. This package offers a total of 28 hours of in-home care & includes:

-One Postpartum Care Planning Session (before birth)

-On call support via text & phone call Monday - Saturday 9am to 6pm for the first 6 weeks after birth

-In-home support for the first 6 weeks after birth. (Home visits occur 3x a week for the first 2 weeks, followed by 2x a week for the remaining 4 weeks).

*Each visit is 2 hours long, & includes preparation of an Ayurvedic meal, snack and tea, as well as, one mind/body care practice of mother’s choice (herbal bath, belly binding, womb massage, guided relaxation/breathwork, marma therapy, instruction for abhyanga massage and/or baby massage, etc.)

-Preparation of one Ceremonial Bath to honor the mother & the closing of her sacred six week window.

-Emotional & mental support as you recover from birth & adjust to a new routine. This includes my holding space for you to share & process your birth story should you want to.

-Access to me as an herbalist & resource for any personally curated herbal blends that you may need as you heal.

*All herbal bath blends, ghees, oils, teas are included in this package, as well as, one belly binding cloth.

Mini Postpartum Support Package

There is a significant amount of shifting happening during the first 3 weeks postpartum, including a steep hormone drop for the mother & baby’s first growth spurt. This package is for mothers who do not wish to have a full 6 weeks of care but are looking to have extra support & nourishment through the very early days postpartum. It offers a total of 18 hours of in-home care & includes:

-One Postpartum Care Planning Session (before birth)

-On call support via text & phone call Monday - Saturday 9am to 6pm for the first 6 weeks after birth

-In-home support for the first 3 weeks after birth. (Home visits occur 3x a week).

*Each visit is 2 hours long, & includes preparation of an Ayurvedic meal, snack and tea, as well as, one mind/body care practice of mother’s choice (herbal bath, belly binding, womb massage, guided relaxation/breathwork, marma therapy, instruction for abhyanga massage and/or baby massage, etc.)

-Preparation of one Ceremonial Bath to honor the mother & the closing of her sacred six week window.

-Emotional & mental support as you recover from birth & adjust to a new routine. This includes my holding space for you to share & process your birth story should you want to.

-Access to me as an herbalist & resource for any personally curated herbal blends that you may need as you heal.

*All herbal bath blends, ghees, oils, teas are included in this package, as well as, one belly binding cloth.

Virtual Postpartum Support Package

This offering is for mothers that live outside of my area but are still looking to feel supported & nurtured during postpartum. No matter where you are in your postpartum season, this offering is intended to support a mother in understanding her postpartum needs & finding ways to bring in the care practices of traditional postpartum support to help her to feel more resourced & whole. This package includes:

-One Postpartum Care Planning Session (before birth)

-On call support via text & phone call Monday - Saturday 9am to 6pm for the first 6 weeks after birth

-Six 1-hr virtual postpartum care sessions. (Virtual sessions occur weekly for 6 weeks or twice a week for 3 weeks)

-Meal planning, grocery lists & recipe support each week.

-Emotional & mental support as you recover from birth & adjust to a new routine. This includes my holding space for you to share & process your birth story should you want to.

- Support in building your village & asking for help.

- Guided relaxation and/or breath work as needed during virtual sessions.

- Guided instruction for belly binding, herbal bathing and/or pelvic steaming.

-Access to me as an herbalist & resource for any personally curated herbal blends that you may need as you heal.

The first step in working together for postpartum is a free phone consultation. I am happy to share a little bit more about myself, answer any questions you might have & help you determine whether this would be a good fit. I am currently supporting one mother a month. If you are considering hiring postpartum support, I encourage you to reach out sooner than later. You can book a free call below, or if you’d prefer to reach out via email, please email heldinritual@gmail.com with your name, location & how far along you are & I’ll be in touch soon.

Doula for the Day

This offering is for mothers anywhere in their postpartum journey who are looking for extra support & care. It could be that you want someone to make you your first meal immediately following birth, or extra support on the day your partner is returning to work, or maybe you’re simply longing for some extra nourishment & rest at 6 months postpartum. This is offering is intended to serve those during a one-time home visit. Each visit is 2 hours long & can include preparation of an Ayurvedic meal, snack and tea, as well as, one mind/body care practice of mother’s choice (herbal bath, belly binding, womb massage, guided relaxation/breathwork, marma therapy, instruction for abhyanga massage and/or baby massage, etc.) & light tidying of the home. The main idea is to tailor this one-time visit to what the mother needs most. This offering makes a great gift!

Investment: $250

What does an in-home postpartum visit look like?

Home visits last 2 hours & can look different each time depending on your needs. Ways I may serve you during a home visit: Serving a warm meal, snack & tea prepared intentionally to support digestion, lactation, hormone balance & tissue repair while replenishing & rehydrating your body. Holding space for you to share, integrating the birth & all the new things happening in your body. Giving you an herbal oil belly massage & bind. Preparing a warm, herbal bath for you to pause & soak. Walking you through a guided relaxation or grounding practice to support your nervous system. Light tidying of your home to help bring you peace & make more space for you to rest. Guidance in finding your way back to your intuition in times of doubt.

“Investing in Amy as my Postpartum Doula was the best thing my family could’ve gifted me! I was so grateful for her being there for me in the most vulnerable time of my life. I was blessed by her kindness, attentiveness, wisdom and delicious meals and snacks! This was my third pregnancy and I truly appreciate the support Amy offered as she cared for and nourished me. It’s truly something I will never go without in the future. My family and I understood the value of a doula coming in to help me so I was able to give more of myself to them and heal quicker than ever before. Amy is a wealth of knowledge and has many other connections that I have helped me during and after my pregnancy. Before Amy, I was not as aware of the importance of the first 6 weeks after birth for me and my new baby, but with Amy I was able to completely embrace every moment of the spiritual journey of my third walk into motherhood. This birth was by FAR the best of the three I have had, and I can honestly say that has a lot to do with the decision to invest in Amy as my Postpartum Doula.”

-Lindsey L || Mother of three

Kind Words:

“Motherhood is also the essence of people taking care of people. Without this, culture itself dries up, leaving our children & ourselves without roots. When any culture allows it’s women to lose their health & joy through the process of recreation, people lose touch with the greatest source of its natural enfoldment of lovingness, its vitality, & its innate mappings back ’home’. It is essential on so many levels, & especially potent in the postnatal time, that we support Mothers to feel at home within themselves.”

— Ysha Oakes