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Over the course of the past couple hundred years, we've been progressively losing our intact communities. Instead of extended family and village style lives, most of us in the western industrialized world exist in nuclear family structures. 

Some of that independence has been welcome; but there is also a tremendous loss of community care and support. 

There is perhaps nowhere this loss is more palpable than in the childbearing years. 

Which is what Shakila Marando has felt compelled to address with her doula care collective, Doulas by the Bay.

She started with a personal practice as a doula but the demand for her services surpassed her capacity, so she began expanding, and over time has now built up her community care model to 60 doulas and counting. 

And they're expanding from the San Francisco Bay Area down to Southern California now, always recruiting new doulas and offering more education and support for families in those communities. 

I also loved hearing about her passion for perinatal mood support, and the role doulas can play in the rollercoaster of emotions that shows up postpartum.

Listen to learn:

• Shakila's personal journey from becoming a new mother to becoming a doula
• the origin story of Doulas by the Bay
• a little on how this kind of doula community care model works 
• what a doula is and is not
• how doulas can play a role in perinatal mood support
• what to consider when choosing a doula

Resources:

• Today's shownotes: Get Shakila's links!
• Episode 25: Immediate postpartum care the herbal way w Liz Philbrick
• Episode 85: Acupressure for childbearing years with Sarah Tewhey
• Episode 136: The Herbal Doula with Marie White
• Episode 166: Your postpartum body w Courtney Naliboff + Dr Ruth Macy

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DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for educational purposes only, I am not providing any medical advice, I am not a medical practitioner, I’m an herbalist and in the US, there is no path to licensure for herbalists, so my role is as an herbal educator. Please do your own research and consult your healthcare provider for any personal concerns.

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