Episode 11: Honouring the Sacred Postpartum Window with Doula Kellie Hermes
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
Kellie Hermes | Doula & Founder, Adora Birth | Reiki Practitioner, Canberra
Kellie Hermes is a Canberra-based birth and postpartum doula, Reiki practitioner and mother of four, and the founder of Adorabirth. Her path into this work began with her own births, including the loss of her first baby, and the deeply supported water birth of her daughter that followed, guided by a continuity-of-care midwife who believed completely in her body. That experience of being trusted through a hard posterior labour became the blueprint for the doula she is today.
In this conversation we talk about what a doula offers beyond the birth room and why the weeks after birth need slowness and structured community rather than isolation. Kellie talks about how she supports both mothers and partners in the postpartum period and the different archetypes doulas move between depending on what a woman needs.
We also get into how partners can stay grounded and involved without stepping on the mother's bond with her baby, why Kellie believes families need structured support rather than a vague "just ask if you need anything," and the bigger systemic shifts — from Nordic-style parental leave to models like Seven Sisters for Seven Days — that she thinks would change postpartum for the better.
SHOW NOTES
00:00 - Kelly's holistic doula practice and why postpartum care matters
01:20 - Her first births and the midwife who changed everything
02:11 - A posterior labour, water birth, and trusting her body
03:49 - Reiki, oxytocin, and how birth shaped her career
05:31 - How natural therapies led her to doula training
06:37 - Why continuity of care made such a difference
07:30 - The power of calm belief during labour
08:55 - Why trust in women's bodies is eroding
09:47 - What a doula actually offers beyond the birthroom
11:23 - What postpartum support looks like in practice
12:39 - Touch, rest, and helping milk flow
13:59 - Why postpartum should be slow, not rushed
15:37 - Teaching women to ask for help and communicate needs
16:04 - Supporting partners to stay grounded and present
18:27 - Parris shares the emotional complexity of being the secondary parent
20:29 - Supporting bonding without excluding the partner
21:54 - The gap in the system after birth
22:39 - Why doulas bring slowness, time, and co-regulation
23:36 - Family support versus neutral doula support
25:03 - Why judgment can creep in with family involvement
27:29 - Choosing the right doula presence for your needs
28:31 - Rhea Dempsey's archetypes and how doulas shift roles
30:09 - Why transition needs encouragement, not sympathy
31:23 - What it looks like when a woman finds her power
32:47 - Kelly's own archetype and the sister-mother balance
33:49 - Knowing when to step back after intense support
35:38 - Supporting every kind of birth without judgment
36:40 - The system changes needed for better postpartum care
38:01 - Clear communication with family and friends after birth
39:51 - The “seven sisters for seven days” support idea
41:35 - Why women need proactive support, not just “tell me if you need anything”
42:27 - Creating systemic change through postpartum care
42:47 - How to book a free chat with Kelly
43:23 - It's never too early or too late to reach out
44:40 - Closing reflections and blessings for motherhood
CONNECT WITH KELLIE
Adorabirth — Birth & Postpartum Doula, Canberra
Related reading: “Honouring the Sacred Postpartum Window: Why Every Mother Needs Support Beyond Family” — Kellie's blog post on her website.
MENTIONED IN EPISODE
Reiki: an energy-based healing practice; Kellie is trained in Reiki I & II and used self-Reiki to move through transition during her own labour
Continuity of Care Programme: a midwifery care model, such as the one at Canberra Hospital, where a woman is supported by the same known midwife throughout pregnancy, birth and postpartum
Seven Sisters for Seven Days by Michelle Peterson: a structured postpartum support model where one person from a woman's circle checks in on an assigned day of the week for six weeks after birth
Rhea Dempsey: Australian doula, author and birth educator known for her work on labour support and the archetypes doulas and midwives embody (the mother, the sister, the wise woman)
Nordic parental leave policies: the extended, family-centred paid parental leave models used in countries like Sweden and Norway, cited as a benchmark for postpartum support
Comments