Journal

It is the mother who so graciously and humbly offers gratitude toward her doula, 

Yet it is the mother who offers her doula the greatest gift...​

The gift of witnessing the miracle of birth. 

The gift of holding the mother. 

The gift of bearing witness to a mother's love.

Shishu Abhyanga, meaning Ayurvedic infant massage, is a beautiful practise for mothers and fathers to share with their babies. When offering postpartum care to a mother and her family, I will often teach both mother and father how to provide Shishu Abhyanga to their newborn.  

The golden hour is truly beautiful and refers to the first hour post birth. During the golden hour, baby is held to the mother's chest, skin to skin. This enables a gentle entry into this world for baby, and allows both mother and baby to bond. The golden hour is to be protected, surrounded by an external environment of hushed voices, dim lighting, calm and quiet. 

In Ayurveda, it is known that the first bodily tissue to be formed after digestion of food is rasa dhatu (plasma). Rasa has a deep connection to stanya (breastmilk). 

The quality of rasa dhatu will directly impact the quality of a mother's stanya.

During the first forty days of a mother's postpartum, it is understood that the mother's physiology and nervous system are just as delicate as that of her newborn's. The mother is tender, vulnerable, and open during this time. Therefore, the nurturance and care that baby needs, the mother also needs. The mother is to be mothered just as lovingly as she mothers her baby. 

Preparing an oat mylk bath for a newborn baby is a beautiful means of addressing and soothing dryness of skin caused by Vata imbalance. Oats hold Vata pacifying properties when applied topically, making an oat mylk bath a soothing remedy for delicate newborn skin.