LEAH SIZELAND, POSTPARTUM DOULA
Transformational Postpartum Care
I am an intuitive and compassionate postpartum doula offering new mothers deep reverence and nourishing support as they begin life with their new baby. As a devoted mother and healer I intrinsically understand how vital it is that a woman’s mind, body and spirit are tended to with care during the weeks and months following the transformational birth experience.
tend to your mind, body and spirit /
tend to your mind, body and spirit /
Come back to your centre, and feel at home again in your body —
Through sitting with hundreds of new mothers as a facilitator of She Births Soul Mama Circles, I have gathered deep insights into the quality of postpartum support each woman receives and her corresponding physical and emotional well-being. I have seen first hand that a woman’s capacity to meet the potential joys and challenges of mothering and transition well through this significant rite of passage is not only enriched by nurturing postpartum care, but dependent on it.
Just as the caterpillar enters a cocoon and later emerges a butterfly, women enter a time of great transformation through all aspects of our being as we become mothers. Within this time we need to be nurtured through touch, warming, nourishing foods, and the company of wise women.
To this end, I offer a unique blend of modalities weaving together multiple aspects of healing and support, allowing me to respond sensitively to each woman’s unique needs wherever she finds herself on the journey of motherhood.
Providing postpartum care draws together the many gifts, experiences and wisdom I have gathered over a lifetime of working with women in the wellness space. This includes years spent travelling and immersing myself in diverse cultural practices and healing arts, as well as my own lived experience as a devoted and loving mother.
My experience of pregnancy, birth, and new motherhood was very different with both of my children and, to be honest, one of the hardest times of my life. I fell deeply in love with my babies as soon as they entered the world (which doesn’t happen to every woman), and I have an amazing husband and incredibly loving family - but for me, navigating postpartum was like facing a huge mountain of struggle and depletion.
Having been through that myself, I am here to help you build a community of other like-minded mummas and support you in finding out what you need on all levels of being to feel held, heard and nurtured.
Your journey doesn't have to be a hard, upward climb; instead it can be a sacred window of time where golden moments are abundant, and you as the mother are getting the support you need.
It's my mission to ensure that all new mothers are honoured and that their needs are met through this transitional phase. This will create a ripple effect that will touch you as the new mother, and your other relationships too.
As the mother you are the central nervous system for your family unit.
Through empowering, inspired, sacred rituals, embodied kinesiology and body work, I gently guide women to their own innate wisdom, allowing them to discover an unwavering trust in their instincts and to find strength for their journey as they embrace motherhood.
What is a postpartum doula?
Traditionally (and in many cultures still today), a birthing woman is surrounded by experienced women who provide protection, comfort and guidance through childbirth and the months that follow.
Birth and postpartum doulas take on this important role, offering emotional and physical support as women journey from one stage of life to another, from the carefree maiden to the devoted mother. A birth doula provides information, emotional support and advocates for the birthing mother.
During childbirth a woman experiences a physical opening and an energetic expansion in ways she may not have experienced before. Whether it is your first baby or your seventh, significant changes for the mother and her family are inevitable after birth. This can leave a new mother feeling vulnerable, lost and disconnected from herself.
As a postpartum doula, I provide mothers with nurturing care and guidance so that they may come back to their centre, feel at home once again in their body, and feel nourished and cared for as they nourish and care for their baby.
