F.A.Q.

A doula is someone who provides emotional, physical, and informational support to a pregnant woman and their partner/family before, during, and after labor. This is not a new concept; in many cultures, pregnant people have been supported by others, often in their families, in this way for centuries.

I’m using the term community herbalist to acknowledge the difference between a love for and reverence of plants and herbs and the natural world overall, and clinical herbalism. I consider myself a community herbalist because I’m not yet practicing clinical herbalism with individual clients; instead I’m creating carefully handcrafted herbal products made with herbs that I have experience and relationship with, and sharing information about the kinds of herbs and plants that are gentle and supportive for our reproductive health. I’m very careful to share herbal products and information that I have personal experience with and knowledge of, and I’m very quick to refer to clinical herbalists for complex issues that are out of my scope or experience level. Current and past herbal teachers include April Punsalan, Divine Birth Wisdom, and Empress Karen Rose.

I want you to have to support in birthing the way you want, not in the way other people want for you. I’ve supported all different kinds of individuals, couples, and families through all kinds of labors. My agenda is that I have no agenda besides filling in the gaps of the healthcare system that pregnant people deal with and helping you feel prepared for the transition into parenthood. You deserve reliable and consistent support no matter how you want to birth your baby. My role is educating you in how to make this happen and how to navigate the systems you choose to birth in to help you feel empowered. We need more parents who feel empowered by this process and well cared for throughout their entire pregnancy, labor, and postpartum, and we need way more respect for babies in their journey here and the immediate postpartum, and I’m here to help make that happen.

The Postpartum Doula Package is great for:

* first time parents looking for a little bit of guidance / mentoring with newborn care in addition to nourishing food for recovery


* second / third- time parents who want help with their toddler transition in addition to food for recovery


* foodies who want the option to customize their menu a little more than meal delivery currently allows


* anybody who doesn’t have family around to help with the transition to parenthood


Postpartum Meal Delivery is great for:

* first time parents who have lots of family / friends / mom mentors who have already signed up (time slots included!) to support, but who need a little bit of extra help with their meals


* second / third- time parents who feel confident in their newborn support but don’t know how they’re going to manage meals or their family 


* anybody who prioritizes healthy, seasonal eating and who wants to be intentional about their recovery from pregnancy and labor


* anybody that wants to support our local farmers and businesses


Not sure what you prefer? Contact us and set up a hybrid doula + meal delivery package, or book your free consult to discuss your options further.

You just endured one of the most strenuous physical endeavors there is - you brought your baby into the world. Now, your uterus is about to work overtime to return to its pre-pregnancy size, the lining of your uterus will continue to shed for 3-6 weeks, your hormone levels will drop to 1/3 of what they were during pregnancy in a matter of days, you may have tear(s) in your perineum or wounds in your belly, and your body needs additional nutrients to account for blood and fluid loss during labor. If you’re nursing, you’re burning hundreds of calories per day just by feeding your baby. You deserve to convalesce! What’s more, nutritional deficiencies can be enormous contributors to perinatal mental health disorders. Each of these meals is designed to address the nutrition your body needs to recover, help to regulate your hormones, and promote better sleep (can’t make any guarantees about the baby’s sleep, though).

Communities around the world have long honored rest and recuperation for the mother for a designated period of time (usually around 40 days) after a baby is born; we only just recently lost the significance of this in the modern Western world. While there are many differences in these postpartum customs by culture, all of them emphasize and prioritize postpartum nutrition. In no version of this postpartum recovery period is the new mom cooking for herself; she’s being nurtured and fed by loving friends and family in her corner.

You get to refuse the idea that sprinting back to your pre-pregnancy activity is a badge of honor. You don’t have to be a supermom who does it all and makes it look easy, without support. Your body + mind deserve rest, care, and nurturing as you transition into this new phase of your life. There are so many products being pushed on you right now, as a new parent who just wants to do what’s best for your baby. Take a breath, and try a warm meal. Lean on the people around you and lean into the simple idea that you get to be nurtured right now.

The times. They’re unprecedented. Supply chain collapse has become a household conversation, along with meat shortages and “flower shortages” (that’s a misnomer- the flowers are fine. Thriving, even). It’s clear how disconnected we’ve all become from our food and how many steps it takes to get from the ground to our plate, which also means we’ve forgotten about how important our farmers are. In the Charleston area, we’re lucky to have Growfood Carolina, an initiative that makes it easy on food vendors to source food from local and regional farms, allowing us as consumers to develop a stronger relationship with the seasons and the food that thrives in our region, while supporting farms that may not otherwise have the resources to survive against the big guys. Plus, we have some incredible farmers and growers in the Charleston area using sustainable and regenerative practices —prioritizing the health of the soil for generations to come. If I’m serving food to new families, shouldn’t I also make sure I’m paying attention to how my work is affecting the planet’s health? The one that grows the food?

I’m really proud to be sourcing from the farmers and growers that I do. I hope you’ll go to the farmers’ markets and meet them soon!

Great question, glad you asked! First and foremost, I’m a mom, and I take my job as a parent very seriously (sometimes too seriously). I know through experience how physically demanding pregnancy, labor, and postpartum recovery are, and how hard parents work from the minute baby arrives, on top of adjusting to new norms of sleep deprivation – so on a very foundational level, I just really, really, want you to feel well cared for!! I’m also a trained and certified doula, an integrative lactation + feeding specialist with incredible mentors + peers, an herbal apprentice, and a longtime health and nutrition educator and cooking club facilitator in and out of school settings. Alongside teaching and advising, I completed my doctorate in health education just before my baby arrived, so I spent my twenties immersed in public health + educational research, meaning I know how to scour the latest articles, interpret the data, and make informed choices. You don’t have to make the same choices as I do, but know that the choices I’ve made for this business are based on years of research, experience, and mentorship from teachers who really want every family to feel supported during their childbearing year.

Love that question!! Please look at the work of my mentors Emilie and Guramrit at Ashe Birthing Services in the Bronx, NY and consider donating to their accessibility fund. They have held my hands through my doula mentorships and generously shared everything they learned in their years of experience so that families everywhere can get the support they deserve. Their accessibility fund allows them and their team to provide high quality care and ongoing support to clients and families who come up against medical racism and class discrimination in their obstetric and gynecological care; an urgent need in the Black maternal health crisis.

You may also look into my teachers and friends at Manhattan Birth and Mama Glow. They are born teachers and community healers and I am unbelievably grateful to have learned from them.

The care and respect that my family and I received from our midwives during pregnancy and postpartum also changed me forever, so I’m humbly paying it forward.

As a spiritual herbalist apprentice of Empress Karen Rose and a longtime student of Maryam Hasnaa, I am very thoughtful and intentional about my relationship to the Earth, the plants I work with, and the community I surround myself with. It is easy to be extractive when working with plants and people embedded in a culture with significant exploitation of both plants and people, and it is important to me to be in right relationship with the herbal products I create and with the people around me. My guiding force is being the parent that my child deserves, and modeling what it means to be a generous and engaged community member. Some of the ways I practice reciprocity are: purchasing seasonal and mostly organic food from small, regional farmers and growers; purchasing herbs from local apothecaries and flowers from local wildflower florists who prioritize native plants; foraging plants with deep respect, never taking more than I need and only wildcrafting plants that are in great abundance; planting native seeds in my container gardens for the bees and the butterflies; sharing time and treasure to community organizations that focus on food and birth self-sufficiency. If you have other thoughts on reciprocity, I’d love to hear them!