Healing the Mother: Intentional Postpartum Care

Hi! I’m Laci, a postpartum doula, herbalist, and mom located in San Diego. I use herbs, nutrition, and traditional postpartum practices to help women heal after birth.

The mainstream narrative tells us that women should give birth and return to business as usual in just a few weeks or less, but this mindset is unrealistic and harmful to new moms and babies. In cultures around the world, there are longstanding traditions of how and why women should be cared for in the immediate weeks following birth. Many of these traditions teach that how a woman is cared for in postpartum will impact her future health, showing up in menopause and beyond.

The 5 Cross-Cultural Prescriptions for Postpartum Wellness

Just like in pregnancy, postpartum is a specific period in a woman’s life where she must care for her body differently than before. These five core pillars guide all my work inside your home in the San Diego area:

• Rest: Creating space for uninterrupted physiological recovery and bonding.
  

• Warmth: Keeping the mother warm through herbal sitz baths, pelvic steams, teas, and herbal baths to support circulation and recovery.
  

• Specific Foods: Cooking nutrient-dense, easily digestible meals tailored directly to your body's healing needs.
  

• Bodywork: Restorative modalities including sobada (abdominal bodywork), belly binding, and closing of the bones.
  

• Community: Surrounding you with experienced, steady presence so you are never navigating early motherhood alone.
  
  

I am here to educate and support women in their postpartum care, so they can step into motherhood in good health.

In-Home Care & Modalities

Every postpartum visit is structured around restorative healing, offering dedicated 4-hour in-home sessions tailored to your pace:

• Nourishing Meal Preparation: Preparing in-home healing foods and broths formulated for tissue repair and vital replenishment.

• Custom Herbal Support: Formulating and steeping tailored in-home herbs, teas, and tinctures for hormonal balance and recovery.

• Bodywork: Postpartum bodywork and abdominal massage with herbal oil to increase circulation and promote relaxation.

• Belly Binding: Gentle wrapping to support separated abdominal muscles, pelvic floor recovery, and physical stability.

• Closing of the Bones: Honoring your new body by energetically and physically sealing the birth process.
  

Education & Lineage

My care is rooted in deep respect for traditional post-birth medicine and ongoing specialized training:

• Innate Traditions Postpartum Care Practitioner
  
• Self-Heal School of Herbal Studies and Healing
  
• Postpartum Sealing Retreat and Belly Binding with Midwife, Tema Mercado
  
• Herbal mentorship with Registered Clinical Herbalist, Anne Salazar, RH (AHG)
  
• Sobada (abdominal bodywork) with Sobadora, Metztli Lopez Torres
  
• Prenatal Bodywork and Massage with Jamie Mossay
  
• Ongoing classes, workshops, and continuing education in maternal wellness
  

I look forward to taking care of you.

— Laci