So Anna, what do you actually do?

This question has been cropping up a bit lately, so I thought I'd give you the low down.

Postpartum traditions across over 170 cultures share five key components. Provision of the first four of these (extended rest, warmth, nourishing food, and body work) are reliant upon a bedrock of community support. In times past, the support of our village of sisters, mothers, aunts and grandmothers functioned as a source of immunity for new mothers from exhaustion, overwhelm and long-term physical and mental ill-health. This support is provided most intensively in the first six weeks post-birth, and continues in some capacity for the next six weeks as well (the entire "fourth trimester").

In short - our physiology does not thrive in isolation, and it is not normal for women to be at home alone all day with a new baby. Mothers are wired to be vigilant to potential dangers, but without the physical presence of others and the support that allows for, an inflammatory stress response develops in mum's brain. This neuroinflammation presents as a state of hypervigilance, anxiousness, poor sleep and mood disturbance. Clearly this is not the ideal situation for a mother and her newborn thrive in, and physical problems related to postnatal depletion can fester for months and years. (You can read more about this in my free eBook  available here if you haven't already read it). Experts like Dr Oscar Serralach (author of "The Postnatal Depletion Cure", which I highly recommend and keep in my lending library) believe that much of the postnatal mental health concerns and physical exhaustion of mothers in our society are actually the result of normal stress response to the unnatural situation of being left alone with a child too soon.

In a modern world where this maternal support is not inbuilt in our cultural experience of early motherhood, I am here to fill this gap. I am a woman, mother, nurturer, feeder. I am a mother guide, the person who listens and walks alongside you as you transition from maiden to mother, whether for the first or fifth time. I provide in-home support and/or remote mentoring throughout the first six to twelve weeks post-birth, according to your needs and preferences. I also do stand-alone mama retreats online and face-to-face in the Hunter, women's health rehab (exercise physiology) services and one-off "Doula for a Day" in-home support visits.

Home support visits are meet the Newborn Mama's five main needs. Every three-hour visit looks a little different according to what she needs on the day. A visit can include any of the following, and so much more:

• Food - nourishing meals and snacks cooked fresh in your kitchen, herbal teas, collecting pre-ordered groceries.
• Rest and nurture - holding baby while you nap or shower, doing household tasks like laundry or dishes so you can rest, giving you the space you need to participate in activities which bring you peace and joy.
• Warmth - warm food, warm bath, warm hands, warm heart.
• Bodywork - nurturing touch massage, teaching infant massage, belly-binding, women's health rehab for things like pelvic floor issues.
• Community - village building, emotional support, birth story processing, troubleshooting breastfeeding and settling, baby-wearing advice and help, cloth nappy support, reassurance and organising professional referrals if something is "outside the norm", life admin help.