Shakora Sykes

As a licensed full-spectrum doula, my typical day really depends on where the client is and their gestational age. A lot of times that looks like communicating with a client via email, text, or phone. Sometimes I will go to the client's house in person to conduct movement sessions or provide classes for them to learn a little bit of hypnobirthing and pain management techniques that we would use during labor. When it comes to postpartum, I like to follow more of a holistic approach to things - making sure that they sleep well, making sure they're getting nourishing meals to help them heal after delivery, and also providing services to mom, making sure that she's hydrated, making sure that her laundry and baby's laundry is done, light tidying, resetting the kitchen, and also really focusing on their mental health and trying to reduce mom being overwhelmed and forming that postpartum depression and anxiety. A lot of times, too, I do like to go in with a traditional foot soak to kind of help detoxify things from labor and birth and help with lymphatic drainage from the legs down. I also do aromatherapy, and I like to focus on trauma-informed care for moms that have a history of anxiety, depression, sexual abuse, or any type of trauma that they've endured growing up. There's no day that's the same - every day is different, and that's what I love about it. I just love being able to support woman, because we are the forefront of the world. Everybody comes into the world and is birthed by a woman, and I just think that is such a privilege to be able to just take care of one another.