Traditional Six-Week Postpartum Consultation
Six weeks after giving birth, somebody should be asking about more than whether you’re “okay”.
After my own last six-week check, I remember being asked if I was okay.
I said yes.
And that was more or less the end of it.
Yet six weeks after giving birth, there is so much to talk about.
Your body has grown and birthed a baby. You may be recovering from labour, surgery, stitches, blood loss, feeding challenges and weeks of broken sleep.
Your relationships may feel different.
Your emotions may feel different.
Your body certainly feels different.
And somewhere in the middle of all this, attention has understandably turned towards your baby.
This consultation turns some of that attention back towards you.
A traditional postpartum pause
Around the world, many postpartum traditions recognise approximately the first 40 days after birth as a distinct period of recovery.
Rather than treating six weeks as the moment at which a woman should be “back to normal”, I see it as an opportunity to pause.
How are you?
Not the polite answer.
How are you really?
We take our time and look at your recovery from head to toe, considering body, mind and heart.
What do we explore?
Every woman, every birth and every postpartum is different, so there is no rigid checklist.
Your consultation is shaped around what has happened to you and what you need now.
We may explore:
Your birth
What happened, how you experienced it and whether there are parts of the story you still need space to talk through.
Your physical recovery
How your body feels, including tiredness, discomfort, bleeding, abdominal recovery, pelvic health and your general sense of strength and wellbeing.
Caesarean, perineal and other scars
How your scar is healing, what feels uncomfortable and appropriate traditional and supportive approaches to scar care. Where something needs clinical assessment, I will encourage you to seek it.
Food & nourishment
What you are eating, what your body may need and how traditional postpartum foods, drinks and warming practices can support recovery.
Herbs & traditional remedies
Where appropriate, we can explore herbs, oils and simple remedies that may support your postpartum recovery.
Feeding & breasts
Space to talk about how feeding is going, how your breasts feel and where you may need additional specialist support.
Rest & sleep
Not the fantasy version involving eight uninterrupted hours. The real version. How much rest are you getting, who is caring for you and where might we create more opportunities for restoration?
Your emotional world
How you are feeling in yourself, your relationship with your baby, your relationships with the people around you and the enormous emotional adjustment that can accompany becoming a mother.
Your village
Who is supporting you?
Who is feeding you?
Who can you call?
What are you carrying that perhaps somebody else could carry for a while?
Traditional healing
This is where my traditional postpartum work becomes particularly important.
Depending upon what you need, our session may include or lead into recommendations around:
- herbs and traditional remedies
- warming foods and drinks
- oils
- belly care
- scar support
- massage or bodywork
- rest practices
- nourishment
- emotional support
- referrals or signposting where another practitioner is needed
I have spent decades accompanying women through birth and postpartum, learning from traditional midwives, birthkeepers, herbalists, elders, families and women themselves.
I bring that experience to our time together.
But I don’t believe traditional care and clinical care need to compete with one another.
This consultation does not replace your NHS, GP, midwife or other clinical postnatal care.
If something you tell or show me suggests that you need medical assessment, pelvic-health physiotherapy, specialist infant-feeding support, mental-health care or another form of clinical support, I will tell you.
Good traditional care includes knowing when another pair of hands is needed.
It doesn’t have to be exactly six weeks
Despite the name, you do not need to arrive precisely six weeks after giving birth.
You might come at four weeks.
Eight weeks.
Three months.
Or considerably later, because something about your postpartum recovery still doesn’t feel finished.
There isn’t a little door that slams shut on day 42.
If your body or heart is telling you that you need some attention, come.
In person or online
In-person consultation — £225
90 minutes
A spacious traditional postpartum consultation with time to explore your recovery, birth experience, nourishment and individual needs.
Any herbs or simple traditional preparations I make or provide as part of your consultation are included.
In-person sessions are available according to where I am currently working in the UK and internationally.
Travel may be additional depending on location.
Online consultation — £175
90 minutes
If we are in different parts of the world, we can still do a surprising amount together.
We will explore your recovery in depth and I can help you develop a practical postpartum plan, including nourishment, traditional practices and appropriate herbs or remedies that you can source locally.
Where something needs hands-on or clinical assessment, I will help you identify the appropriate practitioner to seek out locally.
Come back to yourself
The early weeks can become entirely about the baby.
Has the baby fed?
Has the baby slept?
Has the baby gained weight?
Has the baby pooed?
All important questions.
But there is another important question.
How is the woman who gave birth?
This is time for someone to ask.
And then actually stay long enough to hear the answer.
Book your Traditional Six-Week Postpartum Consultation
Tell me where in the world you are, when you gave birth and whether you would like an in-person or online session.
We’ll begin there.
