Honoring Traditions
My postpartum practice is woven with various healing traditions from around the world. I am humbled to have access to lineages of postpartum community care that have been passed down for generations. I would like to honor the cultures that these traditions come from by mentioning them here and linking to my teachers below.
American postpartum culture lacks the support, celebration, acknowledgement, recognition, and community that a woman needs to make the healthy transition into nourished motherhood. It also typically doesn’t extend past a few days.
This is why I draw from cultures around the world that have postpartum traditions of organized support, rest, nourishing diet, warming practices, infant care and breastfeeding.
The heart of postpartum care is warmth, and these ancient healing lineages are similar in nature in keeping the inner fire of the woman stoked and supported so that her energy can be replenished as her body gives continuous supply of warmth and energy to her baby.
The Wisdom Traditions & Cultures
that are Woven into My Practice
Traditional Chinese & Korean Medicine
Moxibustion, Ginger Baths, Pelvic Steaming
Traditional Chinese Medicine postpartum care is holistically well-rounded. It includes a protective period of rest (at home for at least 30 days), warming soups, moxibustion, bellybinding, ginger baths, placenta consumption, and a strong emphasis on keeping mom blissful and protected from negative energy. These practices help with circulation, warmth, shrinking the uterus, nourishment, and protecting the mother from overextending or depleting her energy. Additionally I draw from the Korean practice of Chai-Yok, or vaginal steaming.
Ayurvedic Postpartum
Heavenly Abhyanga Oil Massages for Mother & Baby
Ayurveda postpartum traditions originated from ancient India over 5000 years ago. There is a strong emphasis on a 42 day period of postpartum rest that includes: the use of warming spices, foods and teas, belly wrapping, daily heavenly warm-oil Abhyanga massage, staying warm (not going outside for two weeks), and gentle oil massage for baby.
Malay Postpartum
Fragrant Herbs, Belly Binding, Honoring the Placenta, Perineal Steams
Malay postpartum traditions are exquisitely beautiful in using warming, fragrant, aromatic herbs to make pastes and scrubs that help with belly and uterus toning, warming body massage, gorgeous knotted bellybinding, and floral baths to increase oxytocin and peace. Malaysian postpartum care also includes 30-40 days of confinement in home, hot foods, and honoring and burying the placenta. They also include perineum steams to promote warmth, healing and circulation after birth for the perineal tissues..
In Malaysia the postpartum depression rate is less than 2%, compared to 19.3% in the United States.
Common Threads
As you can see, there are various commonalities amongst these postpartum wisdom traditions (confined postpartum rest period at home, warming foods, belly wrapping) which speaks to the underlying innate understandings of keeping the mother supported, the womb warm, and her belly full with easy-to-digest nourishment.
Gratitude
I am Deeply Grateful for My Teachers
Rachelle Garcia Seliga innate traditions
Gena Kirby gena kirby
Adilah Yelton ibu doula
Whapio Diane Bartlett the matrona