Postpartum Care Package
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Known as the "fourth trimester," I support families immediately after birth, typically up to 6 weeks postpartum. This includes nourishing physical care for the mother and newborn as well as emotional support, offering a soft space for listening and understanding.
My focus is on providing ancestral, body-centered healing for the mother during a vulnerable time to assist her in integrating and recovering from birth while providing guidance and support as she steps into her new role and identity.
I believe mother is baby’s first home, and by tending and caring for the new mother with intentional practices we can create the best environment for families and communities to thrive. My work is mother-centered and rooted in many years of studying traditional postpartum care worldwide and across many cultures including practices from México, Guatemala, India and Malaysia.
You can purchase my postpartum package or select single services. Reach out for a consultation to see if this care is right for you, and together we’ll create your unique, holistic postpartum plan.
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Option to purchase postpartum package or single visits.
Postpartum Care Package:
-continued support via text, email, phone
-1 prenatal visit for planning
- 6 postpartum visits (1 visit a week for the first 6 weeks)
-each visit lasts between 2-3 hours
-herbal blends for postpartum healing teas
-herbs and assistance with herbal postpartum baths, foot soak, steams and/or sitz baths
-assistance with warm, nutrient dense meals
-yoga movement practices (in home) upon request
-”Closing of the Bones”
-belly binding
-Mayan abdominal massage
-newborn support & education
-emotional support during this delicate phase
-light household chores such as dishes and laundry as needed
Bengkung Belly Binding
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A long, 100% cotton cloth is tightly wrapped around the midsection of your body during postpartum to aid in bringing everything back together after the expansion of pregnancy. We see different techniques of belly binding used as a cross cultural practice all over the world to support healing, this particular style is rooted in Malaysian culture. I give credit and gratitude to Adilah Yelton for teaching me this practice.
Offered starting around five days after vaginal birth or for a cesarean birth it’s recommended to wait until the incision is mostly healed at around 4-6 weeks. This is an in-person offering where I come to your home to explain how to use the bind and practice using it so you feel confident to continue this self care practice for the recommended 40 days postpartum.
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Benefits: supports the womb after birth, improves posture to aid in the common slouched position of feeding and holding baby, stabilizes stretched out uterine ligaments, helps close ribs and hips, supports the abdomen while organs shift back to pre-pregnancy position, warming, feels energetically grounding and comforting. Also highly recommended for those experiencing grief or loss as it could feel like a hug around the emptiness.
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With this service includes:
-Optinal phone consultation beforehand
-1 in-person belly binding application session
-1 traditional 100% cotton bind
-resource page of use, care and FAQ’s
-continued email, text, phone support as needed
*you can add additional in-person sessions for an additional cost. Travel fees may apply depending on location.
“Closing of the Bones”
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This particular version of “Closing of the Bones” was taught to me through a Mexican lineage, often called “Cerrar la Cadera” or a “Cerrada.”
Using rebozos, I wrap the mother- starting at her head and moving down her body- creating a sense of security and containment. This provides warmth, support, and a grounding energy that helps her body and spirit integrate the changes of birth.
Utilizing elements of warmth, release, and grounding, this ceremony creates a nourishing space for deep healing on all levels—physical, emotional, and spiritual. Whether transitioning into motherhood for the first time, or returning to it, this ceremony is for you if you seek to integrate birth, loss, or any significant life transition.
I give credit, love, and gratitude to Rachelle Seliga, her teacher and relative Clara Alfaro Peña, and the indigenous midwives of Northern Ecuador who practice a different version but helped further my confidence in the idea that postpartum mothers’ needs are the same, no matter the lineage, part of the world, or specific way a closing ritual is expressed. We are all collectively in need of, and benefit from, these loving practices. Additional love and gratitude to the traditional midwives of Mexico City, Oaxaca, and beyond for sharing this with me. It’s not lost on me how important it is to offer this with integrity, immense gratitude, and joy.
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Pregnancy and birth are expansive- physiologically, psychologically, and spiritually.
-”Closing of the Bones” is one way we facilitate the closing of this expansiveness that is asked of us in postpartum.
-helpful to bring closure to whatever is coming up for the mother in her season of mothering. This can be done once or multiple times throughout postpartum, including to signal closing out the birth portal, immediate postpartum, or breastfeeding.
-allows time for the mother to draw her energy inward and be held, loved, and witnessed by those she chooses to be there with her.
-brings in the grounded element of earth during what’s thought of as an airy time of postpartum.
-postpartum calls for grounding practices to facilitate the huge shift postpartum mothers are undergoing, a closing ritual is one way to acknowledge and fulfill this need.
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- 1 phone call or in person meeting for me to deeply listen and assist in clarifying your intentions for this ritual
-Approximately 3-4 hour closing session, with space in between to tend to your baby. Session includes:
herbal bath
closing with rebozos
herbal tea
debrief of birth beforehand and ceremony experience after
“Ali was amazing throughout my entire pregnancy, during the birth, and even postpartum. She was so supportive and I believe she’s one of the reasons I was able to have the birth I wanted without pain medication/epidural even when I had to have a medically necessary induction. Also the postpartum treatment was SO needed. It allowed me to feel refreshed and give my body and self some love after such an intense experience. Definitely recommend her if you’re looking for an amazing doula and that extra support.” -Ramsie
“Ali, Thank you so much for showing me a way of honoring this sacred time post-birth and post-breastfeeding. “Closing of the Bones” was an instrumental part of my journey in becoming a mother and finding my way back to my body and myself.” -Cait