illuminate
postpartum
Postpartum and Nutrition Services
PHILOSOPHYWhen a person decides to climb a major mountain, they often have a sherpa to guide them on their trek. That sherpa is not doing the work for them but rather guiding them along the smoothest route for their unique journey, assessing their strengths and weaknesses day by day, and suggesting relevant resources to help make their journey more successful. In so many ways, I consider my job as your postpartum doula the same as the sherpa’s job for their trekkers. I am here to help you get wherever it is that you’d like to get to in your parenting journey. Just as the path up the mountain changes day by day, the challenges of parenting do too, and I consider my role as a postpartum doula to hold space for what each day brings without judgment. As resources are needed, I provide options. As household chores might weigh my clients down, I help tackle them. My goal is to create a safe space for each of my clients to process their parenting journey, talk openly about their uncertainties, and ultimately to summit that mountain on their own two feet. I’m there to help along the way. It is critical to me to part ways with my clients knowing they feel empowered with the tools we have used together and know that they can venture out and tackle any and all of the peaks of parenthood that will inevitably come their way.
Postpartum planning doesn't fix all the perinatal health concerns and inequities, but it is a simple and powerful tool to help families be more resourced, more prepared, and more educated.
-Kestrel Gates