Matriarch Herbs

10/22/2026

✨Artwork by Katerina Gorelik

If you’re feeling anxious or down in the postpartum, think about when you last ate and what you had to eat.

Was it a warm nourishing meal or was it whatever you could grab to get by?

Our grab-and-go culture really doesn’t work in postpartum. You may have been able to get by living this way pre-pregnancy, but postpartum is different. Your body is depleted, you’re not getting much sleep, you are in an entirely new role, and you may be under-supported. Your buffer to stress is down, so everything will impact you more than it did in the past. All of that said, it makes sense that we would be more susceptible to PMADS during this time.

Prioritizing warm, nutrient-dense, easy-to-digest meals eaten regularly throughout the day is one of the best ways to protect your mental health and rebuild your body. Instead of seeing our mind and body as separate, we can feed them as one. That’s why eating a bowl of chicken soup can feel like food for the soul just as much as the body.

You are a whole person, not a bunch of separate parts. One of the reasons postpartum care exists is to protect a woman’s mental health. Food is just one of the pillars of traditional postpartum care.

Everything feels better when we are warm and full. 🍲

10/21/2026

10/19/2026

Warm, nutrient-dense, easy-to-digest foods are medicine for the newly postpartum woman.

During pregnancy, digestion begins to change as the waves of muscular contractions of the intestine that move food along significantly decrease. With every trimester, p**p takes longer to exit the body. This slow down allows the body to most effectively absorb the nutrients and minerals from the food you eat.

In labor and birth the digestive system temporarily shuts down so the body can direct its energy to birthing a baby.

Because of all these changes, warming, nutrient-dense, easy-to-digest foods are recommended for the first 6 weeks after birth to slowly rekindle the fire of the digestive system and not overwhelm it.

Eating this way allows the body to slowly heal and prevents future digestive issues that can arise when the body doesn’t receive the time and space it needs to recover.

This is why your postpartum doula will offer you lots of soups, stews, broths, teas, and slow-cooked veggies and meats. She’ll also recommend you avoid cold foods and drinks like raw veggies, salads, smoothies, and ice water.

We treat the new mother’s body with care in the beginning to protect her health and vitality going forward.

10/18/2026

Freshly tinctured Milky Oats are some of the best medicine for new moms. When I was in herb school we were asked to dance the feeling of the herb we were studying. Milky Oats reminded me of the hula.

You’ll find them dancing in canyons all over San Diego. I collect them every spring when the oat tops are in their milky stage and tincture them to use with moms throughout the year.

In herbal speak they are known as a nervine trophorestorative. They are good for nourishing an exhausted or overstimulated nervous system and work best when taken daily over a long period of time.

10/15/2026

The Tragic Kingdom of the 6 week checkup. Where you learn you still have a va**na and can put things in it now. As your postpartum doula it’s none of my business what you do or do not put in there, but I want you to know it’s okay if you aren’t interested in exploring just 6 weeks after you gave birth. Period.

Drop an orange in the comments if you love Gwen Stefani. 🍊

10/12/2026

The early days of postpartum require less of what you’re used to and more of what you’ve been missing in your life.

New moms don’t need outside advice, another app, a packed schedule, or a quick meal.

They need more rest, slow-cooked food, space to find the answers in themselves, and time to recover and get to know their baby.

There is a simplicity to the fourth trimester that can be really sweet. We just have to slow down enough to enjoy it.

10/10/2026

What if you decided to rest like it was your job?
What would it feel like in your body?
What would your mind have to say about it?

In cultures where traditional postpartum care is still in tact, rest is taken seriously. It protects a woman’s present and future health. Resting in postpartum is believed to carry over into a woman’s experience of menopause. Resting prevents prolapse and protects a woman’s pelvic bowl now and in menopause when hormones change and issues that were once masked by a certain level of hormones are revealed as those hormones diminish.

Resting after carrying and birthing a baby seems like a reasonable request, yet many of us feel the need to get up and go again long before we should.

Rest is the best medicine, so snuggle up with your baby for as long as you can and leave the world outside your door for another day.

10/09/2026

The electromagnetic field of the heart is 5,000 times stronger than the electromagnetic field of the brain. When the heart is happy, the mind is too.

New moms need rest, support, warmth, nourishment, connection, and community for a happy heart. This is important for both their health and the health of their baby who is in a constant state of co-regulation with them.

Postpartum care tends to the hearts of new moms, so they can tend to the hearts of their little ones.

10/08/2026

Let’s plan for postpartum like we plan for birth. Centering your own care will allow you to feel resourced and regulated and when you feel that way, your baby will too.

I’m a postpartum doula and I help new moms weave rest and nourishment into those first several weeks after birth. I offer in-home care sessions in San Diego.

Postpartum should be a time for rest and recovery. It’s a time for caring for your new body and getting to know your new baby.

Moms hold babies.
Postpartum doulas hold moms.

10/07/2026

There can sometimes be some misunderstanding surrounding postpartum care. What is it? Why do we need it? Is it worth it?

I hope one day it’s up there with weddings, graduations, birthdays, and baby showers. Something society has deemed worthy of spending money and time on, so then we all do it, and people find it odd if we don’t.

Postpartum care is about a woman’s health. It’s about giving her the time and space to heal and adjust to her new role as a mom. Moms are important to the collective as a whole. We need more resourced and regulated mothers and less stressed out and depleted ones.

We owe it to ourselves and our children.