05/26/2025
.avivaromm
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💛 What if the way we care for new mothers is all wrong? Not just lacking. Not just outdated. But built on a model that forgets the mother the moment the baby is born.
As a midwife, I saw what was missing. Mothers — in this magical, vulnerable, transformative time — were often left without the care they needed and deserved. Too often, a mom gets one rushed appointment — six or eight weeks out — if that. By then, she’s often overwhelmed, alone, maybe even depressed. And when she finally gets seen? She’s given 15 minutes. In a cold office. With a baby — and maybe a toddler — in tow.
It’s part of why I went to medical school: to bring postpartum care back where it belongs — to the mother.
When I was a home birth midwife, I visited mamas at home five or six times in the first few weeks — tending to stitches, tears, bleeding, breastfeeding, baby blues, and birth stories. That care wasn’t extra. It was essential.
This week on the On Health podcast, I’m joined by my colleague Eva Zasloff, MD— a family physician, artist, and founder of Tova Health — a home-based fourth trimester care model changing how we support new families.
We talk about:
🌿 Why the current postpartum system is broken
🌿 How postpartum depression is often a symptom of the system, not the mother
🌿 What home visits, Zoom mama circles, and birth stories can heal
🌿 And how we reclaim the sacred fourth trimester — together
✨ This episode is for you if you’re a mother. A midwife. A doctor. A doula. A partner. Or someone who believes new mothers deserve so much more.
🎧 Listen to the episode + read the article at the link in bio.
With love for every mother who’s been left to figure it out alone —
We see you.
We’re with you.
We’re changing this.
