In this episode, we are joined by the amazing Janika Wright, a postpartum doula with a passion for helping mothers navigate their postpartum experiences. Janika shares her inspiring journey from being introduced to the birth field while working at a midwifery to becoming a postpartum doula and founding “Power Beyond Birth.”
Introduction and Background:
- Janika introduces herself as a postpartum doula with four years of experience and a background in the birth field.
- She explains how her personal birth experience and postpartum challenges inspired her to start “Power Beyond Birth.”
The Story Behind “Power Beyond Birth”:
- Janika shares the inspiration behind the name “Power Beyond Birth” and how her own birth experience shaped her journey.
- Her journey from desiring a natural birth to dealing with complications and a traumatic birth experience.
Expectations vs. Reality:
- Janika discusses her expectations for postpartum life, which were initially centered on the idea of a “joyous time” with her baby.
- The emotional challenges she faced after childbirth and her struggles with bonding.
The Need for Postpartum Support:
- Both hosts discuss societal pressures on new mothers and the need for support.
- The importance of recognizing that postpartum emotions are natural and that it’s essential to voice your feelings and seek help when needed.
Defining the Role of a Postpartum Doula:
- Janika explains what a postpartum doula does, emphasizing the emotional and informational support they provide.
- The difference between a postpartum doula and a babysitter or housekeeper.
Financial Concerns:
- Janika addresses concerns about the cost of hiring a postpartum doula.
- She highlights options like bartering, payment plans, putting a doula on your registry, and resources like grants for people of color and Medicaid coverage.
Advice for Expecting Mothers:
- Janika encourages expecting mothers to have grace for themselves and not normalize feelings of loneliness or sadness.
- Emphasizes the importance of understanding that the postpartum journey varies for every individual and providing support and resources.
Supporting a Postpartum Doula:
- The hosts discuss various ways to support the use of postpartum doulas.
- Suggest informing others about the benefits of postpartum doulas and considering adding them to your registry.
Questions to Ask a Postpartum Doula:
- Janika shares essential questions to ask a potential doula to ensure a good fit.
- The importance of having a connection with your doula beyond their professional role.
Contact Janika Wright:
- Janika shares her contact information for anyone interested in learning more about her services or connecting with her:
- Instagram: @PowerBeyondBirth
- Website: PowerBeyondBirth.com
- TikTok: @JanikaWright
Closing Remarks:
- The hosts thank Janika for her valuable insights and the importance of embracing the postpartum journey.
- They invite listeners to tune in to future episodes and wish them a wonderful day.
This episode provides invaluable information and insights into the role of postpartum doulas, the importance of postpartum support, and the significance of open communication during the postpartum journey. Janika’s personal journey and expertise in this field offer listeners a deeper understanding of the topic.
Anita: Hey everyone. Welcome to another episode. Today I’m joined by Janika. I’m joined by Janika and we’re gonna have a great conversation about a topic that I feel every mom should have and know about. We’re gonna be talking about postpartum doulas. So real quick, Janika, can you introduce yourself and tell everybody who you are and
Janika: what you do?
Janika: Yes. So, hello. Right partum doula, or, I’ve been, um, just working as a postpartum doula for about four years now, but I was introduced to the. about 13 years ago. I used to work at a midriffy. Aunt just happened to be the midwife there. And so that’s where I found my love for being in the birth field. I started working with her and I wanted to do more things.
Janika: And she was like, no, well, you need your certification. You need to go back to school. And so that’s what started my journey. Ended up going to school as, um, I got a certification as a nurse assistant. Um, and then it wasn’t until the birth of my daughter in 2019 where I found a or postpartum, and so that’s when I started My Power Beyond Birth.
Janika: Oh, I love that
Anita: name. Power Beyond Birth.
Janika: How did you come up with that name? Oh, my own birth experience. Sure. Um, so my trying to have a baby, natural, I did all the things that I popped, I was with a midwife and all throughout the health. And then it wasn’t until when my water broke, I found out I had, and so I had to be transferred to, it was a, just a traumatic experience for me.
Janika: So I ended up not getting what I wanted. She, she was births. I labored as long as I could for about hours naturally. So it was tough, but you know, blessing and she’s here. She ended up for about a week. I was still in the hospital operating. And I think because I had such a traumatic birth. that it also led to a postpartum experience.
Janika: So I ended up having postpartum, not being able to, um, re bond with my baby. Challenges. And the reason it could have been available to me were actually not because I ended up end of 2019. So once I was Full in my full on COVID, I felt very alone in the household and didn’t really feel like I had, I could have had even with my husband, he was, he was there physically, um, but because this was our first baby and went through the, the motions, it was very experienced.
Janika: And so after a year of dealing with that, um, having some communication, um, to kind of, um, I ended up, um, you know what, instead of just. Just
Anita: there’s a lot of mothers.
Janika: I started opening my experience and just things, talking to other moms and on social media about like little exposed having, and there was a lot of people were experiencing this COVID and I was like, I thought I was a little COVID and you’re telling me people been in silence all this time and you just think that it’s the normal thing, that’s what I dealt with too, and I thought I just.
Janika: I was just, because there wasn’t resources for COVID, I was aware, but then I realized people weren’t resources that are available for. And so that’s when I really had to hang the information out there. When there are resources to support you, there are people, especially in the way that look like us, talk like us, and really genuinely beat you during your postpartum journey.
Janika: And I love
Anita: the story behind what, um, pushed you into the direction of becoming a postpartum doula and to create such a powerful name for your business as well. So what were you expecting your postpartum
Janika: to look like? Easy breezy. Back then it was love my baby. I was going, and I, I loved her at that time.
Janika: It was just hard for me to expect me to be so sad. I, I was sad. I didn’t. to, um, not we were breastfeeding, so she will be on my, I would stay on the couch and that was it. Well, dealing with her needs, taking each day as it, it gone. I thought it would be more of a joyous time and I didn’t kind of move in through the days.
Janika: Taking it and just funk, like, I didn’t know why it was like, everything was still good. I just, out of that emotional kind of like, um, just unhappy. And, you know, I, I thought that breastfeeding also will couldn’t bond us. And even in that sense, like, that’s all she wanted to do. It wasn’t mine anymore. Um, so it was just.
Janika: Different than what I thought it would be.
Anita: Mm-Hmm. And the thing is, you’re not alone in that expectation or that journey because we
Janika: have society,
Anita: tv, media shows us, oh, the next day we can be in heels, back snatched, everything’s okay. That’s not what any of us really experience. Maybe some people, but a majority of us don’t get that experience.
Anita: And we’re in there and we’re like, well, why didn’t nobody tell us? Or we turned to our mothers and like, uh, why didn’t you tell me like you experienced this? Why did you not tell me that this is what it was really about? Instead of, oh, let’s get this nursery together. Let’s make sure we have all these things for the baby.
Anita: You have to also
Janika: remember
Anita: about the mother too, because they’re just as
Janika: important in that journey. That’s very, very true. I remember feeling like Clean during my people opening doors for me, like it was like in a room or even walking through the mall, something less, you know, I get all, you know, cause they’re looking at, you know, you get all this calling you have baby yet.
Janika: How are you feeling? And then as soon as the baby comes, everything kind of slows down. Nobody, how’s the baby? Okay. Well, when can I come and see the baby? Like all attention was now it’s on this baby and said it was during COVID. So nobody was even all, but we were getting calls. And so, yes, definitely. You know, it’s insane.
Janika: Look,
Anita: these babies need their own phone. That’s, that’s what
Janika: it is. Yes. So can you
Anita: tell everybody what exactly is a postpartum doula? Because when I
Janika: first heard of it or doula in general,
Anita: I was like, huh, what? They can do what? I was like, so I can like leave my house and just leave them alone for like hours at a time?
Anita: Or, and they’re like, um, Yes and no. But can you explain to everybody what exactly a postpartum doula is and what they do?
Janika: Yeah. So, uh, someone who supports you during partum timeframe for fancy name for just after emotionally, um, and just being in helping you for yourself. Um, we know in the U S. Um, black women, we three to four times more likely to like problems, childbirth complications.
Janika: And so a lot of things also happen in the post time brain. And so part of Mdula that you can talk to and kind of share your experience with, if you’re, there are things in conflict understanding, we help give you base information so that you, um, well informed decision for your body. And I think that’s huge.
Janika: That’s.
Anita: Can you tell everybody what are some things they don’t do? Because sometimes people think I got a doula so I can ask them any medical question or they can help me change these bandages or
Janika: all this other stuff. Yes, so we are, we don’t catch the baby. We don’t, we’re not birth your baby without a doctor.
Janika: We don’t give you any medical advice. Medical options so that you can discover on what you, you want to do, not babysitters. So alluded to earlier, we don’t just, um, I always like to say that to be there. Um, she has to come to your home and assist you where you need, but the difference between me and a babysitter is that you can leave and go get grocery.
Janika: And so with the postpartum doula, you have to be present. Our job is to help you heal. And so in doing that, as we’re taking care of your, your baby, we’re taking care of you. So while I’m taking care of your baby or feeding your baby, my expectation is for you to be relaxed, sleeping, doing something that’s solely for you.
Janika: And so that’s majority of, um, what a postpartum doula does.
Anita: Yes. I know when I had my postpartum doula after my daughter, or yeah, I was like, this is the best sleep I’ve ever done in my life. All right. And so when I would sleep, she’ll have my daughter and my son and helping them with their bonding together.
Anita: And I just have to relax for those three hours. And I was like, this is wonderful. Everybody should really have this,
Janika: but
Anita: nobody is really educated about them or even know that we exist and we can help. Another thing I wanted to add though, a postpartum doula is not a housekeeper. Some do light housekeeping.
Anita: That’s not scrubbing baseboard. They may put your laundry away if it’s already washed, but they’re not sitting here doing loads and loads of laundry for you and all this other stuff. Some will meal prep or bring a meal. To you, depending, but they’re not babysitters and they’re not housekeepers. Sorry, it’ll be great, but you can put a housekeeper on your registry so you can get a housekeeper after your baby is born.
Anita: Yes. Um, what’s one piece of advice or encouragement that you wish you got in your pregnancy and postpartum
Janika: that, um, if I, I think that if someone told me that I, I didn’t have to, like, it wasn’t okay. My. My loneliness that I was feeling like that wasn’t okay. Like not to don’t normalize that. Like we shouldn’t be normalizing that.
Janika: It’s okay. After you have a baby that, Oh, those times are going to happen. Like, I wish that I knew that I, I had options. I had choices, even with everything being shut down. Um, I still could have reached out to some resources and. Um, let those voices be, be, you know, out there and, and tell somebody about how I was feeling in that moment.
Janika: Um, and so I think that we kinda just normalize that, especially women of color, that we are strong, we are independent, we can handle this. This is our problem. We don’t want to seem weak. Um, and because it’s not normalized that there are struggles that come with postpartum, um, because it’s not voiced, then the downside to that is that if you are voicing it, then you’re just a weak individual, like there’s a problem with you.
Janika: And so I think that, you know, it doesn’t matter like your, um, your social or economic status, like it affects all of us. And so, it, it affects us in different ways, and it all depends on the support that you had during that postpartum period.
Anita: I like that. I really do. And I see a lot of moms who come to me in the therapy side, and they’re like, Am
Janika: I even allowed to feel this way?
Janika: Mm.
Anita: And I’m like, I always like to take the question and ask
Janika: them that. Well, what do you think? And then it goes back to, well, if I feel, if I’m
Anita: allowed to, but then does that mean I’m weak? Does that mean I can’t be this still strong woman? Does this mean all these different things? And at the end of the day, it’s not based on the outside people.
Anita: We need to be able to focus on us and what we need on our inside. Absolutely. Especially in. The postpartum journey, which yeah, they say six weeks, you’re always on this journey because these kids evolve and every day is something new. Um, so to be able to understand and know that as you’re going through this journey, some days may be great.
Anita: Some days may not be okay, but you have to be able to voice in those moments of things, not being okay. So that you can get to a point where you can be okay, especially if you have people around you, how are they supposed to know if you’re not letting them know they just think, okay, this is just normal.
Anita: They’re going through it. I went through it. They’re fine. But if we don’t start voicing it and telling
Janika: people things, then they will never know. Guilt that comes with, you know, and so we do that guilt. We have to just know that, you know, we’re human. We’re going to be all types of emotions, high and low, um, and just with yourself that, hey, you know, this is okay.
Janika: Um, having, I like to say, have, have grace on yourself. You can’t always be, be all joyful. You can’t always be happy. Have some grace on yourself and just. Give yourself some leeway. You know, things aren’t always going to be perfect. And then, I mean, postpartum, when we think about like, exactly what happens with our bodies, um, like, there’s so many various things that happen.
Janika: So your emotions are going to be all over the place. We talk about the hormones. You know, your hormones are running out. So these are things that we can not like, there’s nothing you can do about it. You know? So when you really understand what your body has already gone through, like it’s a, it’s almost a traumatic experience for your body, whether you had a great birth or, but your body had went through something.
Janika: And so when you think of it that way, you’re like, and so when you have girl, then you can deal with them in a different light and just. be okay with admitting that,
Anita: Hey, assistance this time. Oh, you guys, you heard that. Make sure you guys give yourself some grace in this journey, no matter where you’re at, even in pregnancy, because in pregnancy, you know, these hormones are running too during that time, and we can have the same feelings, give yourself grace.
Anita: So is there anything else you
Janika: would like to share with us today? Well, I think that, um, just having this, you know, this is one of, I love postpartum. I love the journey. I think that everyone should, um, when you know better, you do better. And so your first or fifth child, every experience is much different.
Janika: And so even like you utilize a postpartum doula by having them watch your older child as well. And that’s like. Something so great, you know, and you know, even for some of us who have like, or some people have husbands in the home or boyfriends in the home, they still have to work while you’re home with the baby.
Janika: So anybody can utilize. I want, um, people to know that postpartum doula doesn’t replace. Your partner, we work as a team. We are all teammates in this. And the end goal is for you to be healthy and healing well and being happy. And in that term, that’s going to make your family healthy and happy.
Anita: Yes. I like that one question that just came to my mind.
Anita: What do you tell people when they say they can’t afford a postpartum doula? So
Janika: I’ve had that before and to use like barter, um, barter, bartering, we do payment plans. Um, there’s several options out there. Put us on your registry. Um, you can, um, or, you know, like I said, I do. Um, and there there’s different ways because I know not one client that I’ve turned away just um, I believe everyone support and it shouldn’t be money that in that type of support and so it’s like you could get the car seat you can get True.
Janika: That
Anita: is so true, or the first birthday party, you can definitely get a
Janika: postpartum do legally important
Anita: to another resource and I don’t know if you know about that. this resource. Dove gives us a grant to people of color to have a doula or I believe it’s anything in your birth team. I’ve had clients before who have, um, signed up for it and received the grant and the grant goes directly to the birthing individual and they’re able to distribute it to their providers as they need it as
Janika: well.
Janika: Awesome. Yeah. Yeah. And then those of you who have, um, Medicaid as well, Medicaid is. starting to also cover doulas. So that is awesome too in certain States. So I live in the state of Virginia and we’re covered as long as you have a state certified
Anita: doula. You look at that people it’s becoming so much more accessible to you.
Anita: And even if you’re not in a stage where you need a postpartum doula, maybe, you know, somebody who’s pregnant who could really utilize one, let them know, Hey, I didn’t have this. But this is a tool that I think would be great and I would have loved to have. Maybe you should try it out. And don’t think too that the first person that you meet or find is your doula.
Anita: You can interview people and decide who’s the best fit for you and stuff like that. Um, I guess in that realm, what Question, like what’s one question that you wish a client would ask you, but they don’t ask?
Janika: Um, I think everybody, so I get asked children. I do have one baby. I get asked about my, um, definitely, um, like what are their moral things do you do?
Janika: What is different with you? Um, I focus on the Holy Spirit base. So with that, so with you, I can, we pray in Jesus names. That you want to know about your doula. Um, there are different types. Everybody is, you know, it’s a cat comes with it. And so important to make sure that you have a few vibe with, because you’re ends, you guys end up as family, your home.
Janika: So they’re seeing the most parts of you. And so important questions that you want to know, you can get, know, try to figure out exactly person, not just what they do for you, um, because it is an experience. Yep. So
Anita: from what I heard, you guys can be as nosy as you want. The doula is not open to telling you, they’ll say, I don’t feel comfortable, but you guys can ask these questions.
Anita: They’re coming into your home. They’re going to be with your newborn in your home with your family. So it is great to get to know them because it is an intimate experience. Well, thank you Janika for coming and being with me today, having this great conversation. How can people reach out to you? They would like to get to know you more or hire you as their
Janika: dual.
Janika: Yes. Well, you could find Janika, right? You could find Instagram and that’s right with the W, Instagram powerbeyondbirth is powerbeyondbirth. com. And I’m also on TikTok too, right? You’re right. A little bit of everything with social media, you know. Okay. And so we, um, just, even if you want to send a message of a high or ends, I’m open to questions and meeting with people.
Janika: I like to consider myself, your postpartum, tell people you, your postpartum, your professional friend, um, that postpartum journey. So absolutely. So thank you so much for having me. I, and
Anita: thank you so much for making the time and we’ll get back to you guys the next time we have this, um, episode. Thank you once again for being here and I hope everybody enjoys the rest of their day.
Listener Engagement:
We’d love to hear from our listeners after this enlightening episode with Janika Wright. If you have any questions, thoughts, or personal experiences related to the postpartum journey, postpartum doulas, or the importance of support during this time, please share them with us. Your stories and questions may be featured in future episodes or discussed in our upcoming Q&A segment. Feel free to reach out on our social media platforms, through email, or on our website.
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