Redefining Us

20: The Truth About Infant Feeding and Why Parents Deserve Better with Valana Frohardt

• Stephanie Konter-O'Hara • Season 1 • Episode 20

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What if we stopped accepting pain and shame as part of feeding our babies? In this intimate and eye-opening episode, Stephanie is joined by Valana Frohardt, a Denver-based lactation consultant and PA, who shares how her personal and professional experiences have shaped her mission to support birthing people with compassion and clarity. Together, they challenge the outdated narratives around breastfeeding and infant feeding, especially the unspoken expectation that parents should just "figure it out."

Valana dives into the emotional toll of unsupported feeding journeys, the gaps in medical training around lactation, and why trauma-informed care is essential in this space. Whether you're a new parent, a provider, or someone who simply wants to better understand the postpartum experience, this conversation will leave you feeling more informed, more empowered, and deeply seen.

About Valana: Valana Frohardt is an experienced medical provider, lactation consultant, and the owner of Feed & Flourish in Denver, CO. She loves helping moms and babies learn to breastfeed, and supporting women in their recovery after birth. Valana offers lactation visits during pregnancy to prepare for breastfeeding, lactation visits after baby arrives, and postpartum home visits to ensure both mom and baby receive ongoing support during the critical early weeks.

As a Physician Assistant with experience in both Family and Pediatric practice - and a mother herself - Valana brings a deep, holistic understanding of the physical and emotional needs of lactation and postpartum care. During postpartum visits, she tailors her approach to each mother’s unique recovery journey, ensuring they feel empowered, supported, and confident as they navigate this transformative time.

Connect with Valana: 
Website: https://www.feedandflourishdenver.com/
Instagram: @feedandflourishdenver
Facebook: Feed & Flourish Denver

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I wrote a book! Becoming Mommy: Aligning with yourself and finding your voice during pregnancy and motherhood, available at all major retailers - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DZT9P3RB?ref=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_KFT90ZBDS48FDGG6DH5X&ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_KFT90ZBDS48FDGG6DH5X&social_share=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_KFT90ZBDS48FDGG6DH5X&bestFormat=true

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SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to Redefining Us, where we explore sexuality, identity, motherhood, and mental health to help women thrive authentically. Let's break free from roles that limit us and create a life where you can truly be yourself. Welcome back to Redefining Us. This is Stephanie Contrahera, licensed professional counselor, and today I have with me... Valena Frohart, who is a medical provider and lactation consultant and the owner of Feed and Flourish in Denver, Colorado. She loves helping moms and babies learn to breastfeed and supporting women in their recovery after birth. Valena offers lactation visits during pregnancy to prepare for breastfeeding and lactation visits after baby arrives and postpartum home visits to ensure both mom and baby receive ongoing support during the critical early weeks. As a physician's assistant with experience So thank you so much for joining us today. Yeah, thank you for having me, Stephanie. Yes, of course. So yeah, let's just jump right in. Why don't you share with me and the audience why you decided to become a lactation consultant? Because I'm pretty sure you were a physician assistant first from what I remember reading on your website. So yeah, I'd love to hear your backstory and why you've made this transition.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. Yeah. So I always say that my son Avery is my why. And So I gave birth to him about 10 years ago. And honestly, it really knocked the wind out of me, just that process of giving birth and having a new human to take care of. And so now I just feel like sort of gradually going through that process, it really led me to kind of a new passion for wanting to support moms in that process of finding themselves navigating that transition and catching their breath. And so really for me, that process came through lactation support. So, you know, I was sitting days after I had my baby, reeling in shell shock from what I now recognize as a traumatic birth and sitting in a body that kind of felt like it had some parts broken. And every time I went to feed my baby, it was just excruciatingly painful. And so having to do that, you know, eight plus times a day was really hard. And so I was living in Washington at the time, and I was planning a trip to come back to Denver. And a cousin of mine said, you know, you should really see this lactation consultant. She changed everything for me. And so I made an appointment during our trip. And I'll be honest, sitting in front of her was the first time in that post-birth time that I felt like somebody had really listened to me and heard me. And so that first, I think, was like a first step in sort of feeling better. And then she was the first person that was able to make feeding not painful for me. And so I really felt like the tides were shifting. And I felt like through that process, for the first time, motherhood felt doable. And I started to find my footing as a mother in that appointment. And so it really spurred in me a passion to be on the other side of that table and to help moms in that process. And hopefully, you know, I acknowledge that not all women kind of find their footing in motherhood through breastfeeding. But for me, that was my journey. And so I hope to help other moms in that way.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I think early stages of motherhood, everything is brand new. And so having someone to guide you on something that is a, what's a good word, like a option that a lot of women tend to take, which is breastfeeding, I think is a really important role. I know in my postpartum experience, going to a lactation consultant was really helpful because I had no idea what I was signing myself up for with planning to breastfeed or Really knowing like how it's supposed to work or how often to do anything. Yeah. So it's like you kind of feel like a fish out of water. So having a guide in that critical moment, I think, is really valuable for a lot of women. Yes. What do you think is really important for women to hear about breastfeeding and about their journey?

SPEAKER_00:

I really like there's a lactation consultant in town that says breastfeeding is innate and it's learned. And I love that because I feel it highlights the piece that you're not supposed to know everything the moment your baby is born. And so even if you are, you know, hitting bumps in the road or got off to a rocky start, it is something that with good support can get better. And as lactation consultants, we want to meet you where you are and we want to help you with your goals. So whatever you want your feeding journey to look like, we want to support you in that.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I think that's so interesting. If I would have heard that potentially before, I think that would have been a lot less stress because I heard from a lot of women like, oh, it's just so natural. And they're just like, kind of like figure it out. And You know, your baby knows what to do. I'm like, well, I have no idea what to do, even if she knows what to do. I don't have a clue. Yes. Yes. So, yeah, I think that would have been a really helpful thing to hear. Oh, you actually have to learn this. You're just not going to figure it out on your own.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, right. And I don't remember the details about this, but I read, you know, some study that an anthropologist did that was trying to figure out what's the difference between the breastfeeding rates in different countries. And of course, there's like all kinds of factors, you know, including support for families in the postpartum period. And there's lots of things to look at there. But kind of their hypothesis was that Women saw, growing up, saw so many people breastfeeding that they just had more of a knowledge base when they had their child. And what they found was actually that was not the case. What it had to do with is that there was more generational support. So there were more grandmothers around and siblings around and aunts around after the baby was born to help fill in those gaps, to help learn that process. And so I find that to be really fascinating of, you know, I think in our country, the experience varies a lot from family to family. But in a lot of cases, we don't have a lot of generational support. And so I feel like that's where we as lactation consultants can kind of fill in the gaps of what in some places is generational knowledge.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah, I know there's this term or phrase that people say like fed is best. And so I think in my early experience, especially since My mother-in-law and my mother both used formula. I don't know if that was like a thing that people just did in the late 80s and there wasn't as much breastfeeding. I'd love to, never actually looked into the history of that, but I'd be curious if there's just like these waves of differences in generations. But yeah, both of them were like, well, just make sure she eats. That is best. I'm like, yeah, but I can't get any tips or hints from you about, right, do this since your experience was different with breastfeeding. feeding formula. Instead of breastfeeding, I don't think there's anything wrong with feeding formula to anyone. But I think just getting... Yeah, there wasn't that generational knowledge that you're talking about. And it was like a new piece for me.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. Yeah. No, and I think a lot of us have had that experience in our generation. And I think You know, definitely some of us were breastfed, but I was in a similar situation where most of the information my mom passed down to me was like, oh, breastfeeding hurt. You guys bit me. And so I think what's hard in that and, you know, obviously unintentional, but not only did some of us not get helpful practical information, but we may have also gotten sort of negative history about what breastfeeding is.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And that I, again, I would love to hear what your thoughts are. I'm assuming if someone is experiencing being bitten, there are things that you can do to kind of encourage your child to not bite you or to interrupt that behavior in some way to continue the breastfeeding process.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, yes. So I loved it. My mentor really looked at it from kind of an anthropological lens, an evolutionary lens. Thank you so much. what she would always say is let's be curious about that. And so I really appreciated that because it kind of highlights that's likely not a choice. That's likely a behavior, like a compensatory behavior. And so to your point, yes, there's typically a reason that they are abiding and there's typically a root cause of that that can be addressed and approved.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah. When you're working with women who maybe have issues with their baby having like tongue ties and things like that. Is that something that lactation consultants are also able to pick up on? Or is that something given more to like doctors or dentists and things like that?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that's a really interesting issue. So it's definitely a controversial topic in healthcare and in lactation. Right now and probably for the last five or 10 years. And so what I always say, just like in any conversation about it, is I feel like it's controversial because it's complex and we don't know everything about it. So we're still trying to learn about that topic and about which babies benefit from having that tongue tie procedure. So that's, I think, the lens that I always like to look at it through is like humility of, you know, as medical providers and as lactation consultants, we don't know everything. We're still learning about it. But kind of officially, lactation consultants, it's not within our scope to diagnose tongue tie. So since I sit in this unique place of also being a medical provider, being a physician assistant, I can make that diagnosis and make recommendations around that.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And my approach is always, again, I try to approach it with curiosity. So if I see a baby that all of the low-hanging fruit solutions have not improved whatever the problem is, I think more deeply about oral function. And so in general, that category just means how the mouse is working, right? But a component of that is whether there is tight tissue. So whether there's either a tongue tie, so that soft tissue that connects the tongue to the roof of the mouth is too tight and not allowing the mouth to function. But there's other components to that.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah, I think, you know, at least from my very anecdotal experience of being a mom and listening to other moms, there tends to be a lot of, I don't want to use the word hysteria because I feel like that's too strong, but a lot of, oh my gosh, does my baby have a tongue tie? Like is that what's preventing them from breastfeeding? And it almost becomes this anxious spiral that some women tend to find themselves in because, you know, breastfeeding is highly encouraged from a lot of medical professionals. And so it Yeah, it becomes this point of stress and questioning of whether or not it's this or whether or not it's that. And I'm assuming people that come work with you, you're able to help them walk through that rather than like sit in all of these unknown questions.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, I definitely try to help them feel supported in that. Like, you know, first I try to sort of like I did A moment ago, sort of frame the debate so that they recognize that if they Google this, they will find extremely polarizing information on either side. And so I always want people to know that because I never want them to sort of feel like. feel like they were tricked or that they somehow ended up on one side of the fence with you know people that you know only believe one thing because I think like lots of things in life it's more nuanced you know every baby doesn't have a tongue tie and it's not that no baby has a tongue tie somewhere in the middle so yes I do try to help them feel supported in that and feel supported in their options but yeah I think part of it for me is that I feel like sometimes I mainstream medical appointments ask, you know, very quick questions about feeding. And so I think sometimes we miss the deeper feeding issues unless you truly ask those questions. And so I'm also working as a pediatric provider in a clinic. And I love that in this practice, they really do ask how breastfeeding is going. I feel like a lot of places will just ask, you know, okay, are you feeding your baby formula or breast milk? How often are you feeding? It's kind of left at that. And so I feel like that's where the complexity of some of these issues gets fleshed out is when you really listen to women and their feeding experience, you start to realize that there's more going on.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, this is making me think of my pediatrician early on. They did ask that question that you just said, feeding formula or breastfeeding, however you feed them. And I remember feeling like I should say something right now because she's not asking me, but I feel like I need to say something. And, you know, I brought my concern up and she's like, I think that's probably best left for a lactation consultant. Maybe you should go see one. And so that's what I ended up doing. But yeah, my experience was having an oversupply, which I know is I'm sure some people who have undersupply would probably like quote unquote kill for that experience, but I would say it was not pleasant when you've had an oversupply. And I oftentimes think to myself like, oh man, maybe I should have gone the extra mile and hired individual lactation consultant because I had only gone to groups like that were provided at the hospital,

SPEAKER_00:

which

SPEAKER_01:

I think were helpful, but Potentially a one-on-one would have been even more beneficial. I'm kind of curious of your thoughts of the difference between like a group setting and an individual setting and what someone might benefit to go the extra step and get an individual appointment or to go outside of maybe what the hospital just generally provides.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, no, I think that's a really interesting question. And so I think groups are run differently, but I would say in general, you know, the groups that I've been a part of and ran, I feel like are best for the social connection of being around, you know, other people who are in a similar state of life to you and checking your baby's weight. So you can usually get an idea of how much they're eating and feeding because they'll be weighed before feeding. group and then afterward. And then maybe troubleshooting pretty simple things, but I think of it more as like what we would call in medicine anticipatory guidance. So more like what's the normal experience? I have a newborn baby. Approximately how many times should I be breastfeeding it in a day? I think that groups maybe are less tailored to problem-solving individual challenges. And so I think sometimes they can be met, again, if it more falls in that realm of anticipatory guidance of like, okay, you're just doing something like a little bit incorrectly and we can help you with sort of the standard recommendations. But if it's truly a more challenging issue or an issue that's more individual for you, I think a one-on-one lactation appointment is often the most helpful route to go. I think partially just because, you know, a lot of these Feeding issues are also emotional and, you know, all of those things. So I think it's also just like really nice to talk about it in a safe space with one person. And then we can also, you know, typically lactation visits are 60 to 90 minutes. So it's a long time to sort of troubleshoot your specific issue. and have the opportunity for the lactation consultant to get a detailed history, get detailed information about what's happening, talk about what your goals are, and then watch a full feed. So to be able to give that insight during the feed. And then to your point about whether going back to the hospital or seeking out a private lactation consultant, I think hospital lactation consultants are great. And I think that the majority of what they do is help in those first 24 to 48 hours with breastfeeding. So I kind of feel like that's their real expertise. And then after that period of time, I feel like you've somewhat graduated. That's kind of the way I explain it to families that I've seen. So you can certainly go back to see a hospital lactation consultant. But I feel like those of us that do that post-hospital discharge time, you know, that's what we specialize in.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And you wouldn't bring your baby back to the hospital for their pediatrician appointment. You'd go to, like, a specialized pediatrician.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. Yes. Yes. So I know hospital lactation consultants are great and offer that service. And so, you know, I encourage people to do what they're most comfortable with, but that's kind of the lens that I think of it through.

SPEAKER_01:

That and... If I were to reflect back, like just even the availability of making like an individualized appointment would have been beneficial for my life because I found like the time frame of the group often like conflicted with something else going on. So like having it be on your time in this one-on-one specialized way, it could be really beneficial for a person's experience. Yeah. Yeah. I'm just reflecting out loud here. I think the hospital lactation consultants did offer me a one-on-one thing. But in my early postpartum brain, I was like, I'm probably just going to be a burden. My baby's fed. Like, it's fine. I'm just the one having the experience. She's, like, thriving. Like, no issues. I'm the one that's struggling. Like, maybe this isn't something for a lactation consultant to help me with. was what my brain was saying. And now upon reflection, actually, it probably would have been really helpful to go to a one-on-one visit. So I'm curious if you could speak to that as far as how would you approach someone saying like, my baby's fine. I'm the one that's struggling to convince them to go over the hump of not feeling like a burden. That their needs are also important because I think that kind of gets wrapped up in the early postpartum experience and messaging that we're given as women. Like, oh, the baby has all of these appointments and the baby is the most important person in this dynamic. And you're kind of just there to serve the baby. thriving and striving. So yeah, I'm kind of curious what your thoughts are and what you might communicate to women in those head spaces and in that early postpartum experience.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so Stephanie, I think that what your thought process and your experience is very common. And so it was really interesting to me in one of my previous roles as a medical provider, I did home visits for moms and babies within that first week when they got home from the hospital. And what was fascinating to me about those visits is that moms would pretty much exclusively only ask questions about their baby. And so the only way that I could sort of elicit more information about how the moms were doing and what they were struggling with was to ask very direct questions about how they were doing. And then the whole story would come out about what they were struggling with. And sometimes it was lactation related. You know, sometimes it was painful or a struggle or stressful or any of these things. But I think that happens for a lot of reasons. I think you're right. There's cultural messaging there that like we're there just to take care of baby. I think there's also a component of there's some like tunnel vision aspect of after you have a baby, it's just like your mission to take care of that human being. And so, yeah, I really encourage moms, you know, I just kind of think of it as, you know, if you were doing anything else eight to 12 times a day, you would really try to pay attention to your experience and make sure, A, it's not painful, B, hopefully it's not stressful, you know, and C, ideally, it's like a positive experience. And so I really encourage moms women to think about their experience in breastfeeding. And, you know, it's not all about the baby's nourishment. It needs to be about you too.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah. I think, and again, I'm just sharing my personal story that didn't kick in for me, that thought process until seven months. Wow. It would have been a very different experience if I would have thought about me before seven months. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Right? Yes. Yes. Well, and I kind of try to frame it for people too as like any other injury because, you know, sometimes I'll see moms that have a pretty obvious like nipple injury just in terms of kind of like a scrape there or a cut or a bruise. And, you know, I try to frame it for them of like, if you had an injury anywhere else on your body, like you sprained your ankle, there's no way you'd go out and run eight times a day on your painful ankle. And so I think there's maybe a little bit of a disconnect for us as women in terms of these issues that, you know, get kind of labeled as women's health or women's issues that we're supposed to just push through them. Whereas in any part of your body, that would not be the message you would get. And so I try to also help people think of it that way of like, let's take a step back and think about this. If this was any other part of your body, you would be more gentle and you would seek out care for how to make this better.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. I'm even thinking about some clients that I have as a therapist and I'm talking about their postpartum experience and just the deprioritization that women put themselves through. And after birth and figuring out how to like, okay, well, like the baby is really important. And I understand that. And I think that too. And you also need care and attention and to be prioritized.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. Yes. And prioritized as like your own, you know, to your point, as your own being, not this vessel that's doing these other things. I will always remember that. having an experience where I just didn't really feel seen because, you know, I had some issues with healing after having Avery and ended up needing to have a medical procedure to sort of correct that. And I remember sitting in the OB's office and talking to him about this. And he said to me, don't worry, it will not affect your ability to have more children. And it was just really fascinating to me in that moment of, A, you are not meeting me where I am and like thinking about the headspace I'm in. And B, that's not my only priority as a human being.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And I'm assuming you didn't ask any questions, you know, asking, well, this impacts my ability to have future children. It was just like this voluntarily given information. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, I guess. To your point, what do you think providers maybe need to hear about giving care to postpartum women? What do you think is the missing piece there?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so I always try to give my colleagues the benefit of the doubt because I really feel like one of the biggest constraints in being a good, empathetic medical provider is time. And I feel like to have any of these conversations and do a good job, we need longer visits. And so I always try to give them that grace of saying, I think in a 20-minute appointment, it's really hard to get down to these things. But I really feel like it's all about open-ended questions. You know, it's like getting, you have to ask your checkbox questions. And And either before or after that, just really looking the person in the eye and saying, how are you doing? You know, is there anything you're struggling with that you want to talk about today?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And I think even framing it that way, I think would be really helpful because I, again, recalling my appointments, I just feel like, do you have any questions? Like, well, nothing's coming to mind. I didn't prepare a list of questions. Right. But are you struggling with anything? Is there any, you know... support that you need. I think just even wording it a little bit differently could provide or elicit like a lot more information for the provider to have so they could give recommendations or referrals or what have you, even if they only have that 20 minutes. Because I know how the insurance world works as a provider who offers, you know, insurance. But yeah, just the wording of the question could still accomplish a different things in the 20 minute time limit that they have.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, I think so. And again, like I had the benefit of doing home visits. And so I was I was given an hour to do that visit. And I think part of my so that was part of my strategy was just trying to ask open ended questions and give women, you know, the space to talk about what they were going through. But I also just tried to hit upon, you know, the common things that women in the postpartum period are dealing with, you know, so kind of ask fairly blunt questions about, you know, like, how are your breasts feeling? Are you having any trouble going to the bathroom? Just really trying to address any things that are really simple, but make such a difference in how people feel. And so that's where I really feel that routine OB care isn't necessarily meeting all the needs of women in this postpartum period. You know, typically after you have a baby, you have some sort of medical visit before you leave the hospital and then really no care until you go to your six-week appointment. And even that, you know, has to fit in that box of typically a fairly short visit where you might not feel like you have the time and space to talk about maybe some of these other things that are going on. And so that's work that I really enjoy doing. I really enjoy seeing women at any point after they've had their baby. You know, you don't have to wait till six weeks to see me. And I'll talk about anything and everything that is going on for you.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Sometimes when I reflect back on the experience, I almost wish there was a book that they gave me of like, OK, these are the required appointments for you to go to. But here are all the other options. Yes. With a lactation consultant, you can make an appointment with a postpartum therapist. You can make an appointment with, I don't know. Public floor PT. Yes. Yes. Going to one of those two. You can make an appointment with a nurse practitioner who's going to do a different medical exam on you to make sure that you're healing, like maybe at a different point besides six weeks. I don't know. Just like all of the variety of care options, because even as a therapist. feeling like I quote-unquote knew things as someone in the, you know, adjacent medical field, I was like, what am I supposed to do? Right. Yes, like, I don't know, like a pamphlet or a roadmap or some sort of something, even if you only have 20 minutes, a good handout could hurt you a lot, I think.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, I really like that idea because I think there are a lot of us that You know, often it's rooted in our own experience that we want to offer something different than what we experienced. And I think it would be really nice if there were like there were comprehensive resources of, OK, so, you know, this is what you'll get in our office. And these are all the other things that can fill in the gaps if you feel like you have needs in these other areas.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, for sure. Even for myself, I learned about postpartum international work. I don't know, seven to eight months postpartum. That could have been on some pamphlet handed to me at some appointment way sooner before. I was just Googling on the internet, more support. And the internet could be a dangerous place because you could get widely different opinions. So giving that information from a trusted medical professional, I think, could just go a long way.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I agree. And I think it also just normalizes... You know, the vast experience that women can have, the vast challenges that women can experience in that time. So you don't wonder why you're struggling.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it really normalizes it to say that there's a lot of different paths and options for support and treatment. Yeah. I feel like we have a lot of work to do when it comes to postpartum care. Yeah, I guess are there other ways that you feel like postpartum care could be improved that your work is trying to fill in the gaps?

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, I think that that is my main thought and my sort of main goal is that women feel heard and supported at whatever point in their postpartum journey they're at. So I feel like it's partially... Let's give women more resources to reach out at any point, whether it's the day they get back from the hospital or six months after they have their baby, because we know that it takes much longer than those six weeks to fully recover. So I feel like that's part of it is it's like, let's extend that timeline. Let's give women access to support at any moment that they need it. And then let's truly offer comprehensive care of addressing anything that somebody is going through in that time, not just like the typical checkboxes. So that's it for me. And, you know, like I mentioned, just really giving women the opportunity to tell their story and share whatever they want to talk about. You know, I'm sure you know in your work that for a lot of women, having the chance to talk about their birth story in, you know, whatever way they want to can really feel healing.

SPEAKER_01:

And I even want to reflect something on you said early on, like only upon reflection, did you feel like your experience would change? I think even labeling that earlier on for people could be so validating. Or like they actually had like medical complications that led to further issues that required more medical procedures going forward. Yeah, I don't I wish there was some sort of social worker or something that could be there in the hospital or in the first six weeks that is like saying like, oh, do your experience change? you know, sounds like it's traumatic. Do you feel like it was traumatic? Then almost like months later, potentially coming across this idea of, oh, birth trauma, that's a thing. That's probably what I experienced.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. No, I think you're absolutely right on. I think that would really help with the healing because I think you can kind of just be sitting there and not feel right, but not know why. And because you don't know why, it's hard to access support around that. And I feel like it kind of goes back to what we hit upon earlier, which is that I think the goals of postpartum care need to shift. And so we need to have a higher expectation for the care that we offer women so that we're not only looking for life-threatening complications after birth, and making sure that the baby is safe to go home with mom. I really feel like that's the level of mental health screening that we're doing now is, is the baby safe? And that is a pretty low bar. And so, you know, we need to worry about not only is the mom safe, but is the mom okay? Like, does she feel like herself? And so I think part of that is getting out what you're saying is asking moms how they're feeling about their birth experience and if they feel like they need support in processing that and support in processing that earlier rather than later.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And I know this podcast is about women, so I don't want to detract from that by bringing this up. But I even think like, especially depending on the family structure, like checking in with a partner or whether that be a a male partner, a female partner, or a non-binary partner, what have you, how is their experience? Because obviously a role is so pivotal in supporting the birthing person, right? What about the check-in for those people? How are you doing supporting someone who just went through something so life-altering that their whole body and mind and experience day-to-day has shifted? I don't know. That's a whole nother podcast, probably. But that just like came to my mind of what are gaps that are missing is checking in with that person so they can support the birthing person or and even support themselves. I'm not saying that they don't need support, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. No, I mean, paratoid is a transformation for everyone. Right. Somebody should, you know, at least check in on that person. Yeah, at a bare minimum. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, thank you so much for coming on. I'm curious if you'd like to share with people how they can reach out to you and connect with you to hopefully seek your services.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. So... Yeah, I am going into the spring and summer. I'm looking to grow my impact on helping moms with lactation support and connecting with moms that want a more comprehensive model of care in that postpartum time. So really the best way to find me is on my website, which, funny enough, I don't have in front of me, but I believe it's www.feedandslourishdenver.com.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and all the information will be in the show notes too, so you don't have to write that down just as a reminder. Well, thank you so much for coming on today. I really appreciate you taking time to talk with us.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you, Stephanie. I was really honored to participate in your podcast.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you for tuning in to Redefining Us once again and share with other people so other people can continue to listen to Redefining Us and we can get into more listeners ears. If you follow us or subscribe or leave a comment or review, that'd be greatly helpful for other people to find us and also just for me to get some feedback. What do you guys want to hear me say? What do you women care about hearing? I'm totally open to Thank you so much for joining us today. So you can be in the know with all the things that are happening in the Redefining Us community. Once again, thank you so much for listening and keep being awesome.