Today’s show brings inspiration and insight around parenthood and the postpartum. In the most crucial time in a family’s formation, the most basic needs of new parents are often overlooked and undervalued. Let’s dive deep into how we can help as individuals, a community, and society in general.
Kestrel Gates is the author of the Build Your Nest Postpartum Planning Workbook, which guides parents in planning for rest, support, and care after their babies are born. This workbook has been translated into six languages already, with more translations in process. Kestrel serves her local community in Astoria, Oregon, as a maternal healthcare advocate supporting parents and professionals. She lives on the beautiful Oregon coast with her husband and two children.
Show Highlights:
- Insights into Kestrel’s life as a creative, homesteading country girl
- How Kestrel became involved in postpartum health through her experiences with a close friend
- Primary considerations in a postpartum plan: (learned by Kestrel through her Vietnamese mother-in-law)
- Rest--Slow down and take a rest from all other responsibilities.
- Support--New parents need support from family, friends, and paid helpers.
- Care--Traditional practices and healthcare support are essential for new parents.
- Why all the challenges don’t completely resolve themselves by the traditionally accepted six-week or 40-day postpartum period
- How Kestrel wishes the world could be different for parents in the postpartum, with more parental leave, more doctor visits, more midwifery, and more robust healthcare for families
- How being in business has been transformative for Kestrel’s self-growth
- What you’ll find on Kestrel’s website and how it helps people with information, ideas, resources, and reflection
- How Kestrel is developing a certification for the new maternal health role of “postpartum navigator,” one who helps parents plan and offers support
- How community building plays into connection and support for families
- How people can support a family in the postpartum from near and far away
- The new term, “kin work,” and how it plays into life’s purpose
- The importance of self-work in caring for others
- How working toward social justice can be part of all the work we do in the world
- How the pieces of Kestrel’s astrology chart play out in the work she does
- The importance of parenting in the crucial purpose work that serves society
- A glimpse into Kestrel’s creative works and her role as a homeschooling mother
- Hear Kestrel’s answers to rapid-fire questions about helpful advice, grounding habits, her favorite hot beverage, her last meal on earth, her morning routine, an inspiring person, and what brings her joy
Resources:
Weave Your Bliss Website
Weave Your Bliss on Instagram
Weave Your Bliss on Facebook
Weave Your Bliss Patreon
Links for this episode with Kestral
https://mailchi.mp/eac9415d4e1c/byn-book-club
Check out Kestrel’s choice for homeschool curriculum
Check out Kestrel’s book club sales page
