about
Rachael Hollinger…
Postpartum Doula and Chef
Rachael received her associate degree in culinary arts from Kendall College in Chicago IL and since that time has worked with food through avenues such as personal chef work, private parties, restaurant work, and recipe development for restaurants and cookbooks. Since having children of her own, Rachael became a certified postpartum professional with Newborn Mothers Collective Postpartum Training, a program with heavy focus on food as medicine, and women’s brain science. She has self-studied nutrition and Ayurveda medicine giving her a full picture of food as medicine, and has been blending the world of food and mother care in this capacity for over six years.
Rachael works with all kinds of mothers and birthing people to achieve a more peaceful postpartum through food, breast/bottle feeding support, sleep solutions, massage, herbal care, birth processing, and much more.
In addition to working with her clients, Rachael teaches online, and in person workshops, writes and speaks about mother-care, facilitates mothers support groups and gatherings, and is the author of the E-Cookbook NOURIS(her) : using food to heal the new mother.
Rachael is the co-founder of The Pause: hosting elevated yet grounded retreats for the creative mother.
She lives a happy, cozy life in Midcoast Maine with her husband and two children.
What is a postpartum doula?
In the U.S. most people don’t have much of an understanding of women’s needs after childbirth. Sadly this means that many new mothers feel isolated, overwhelmed and exhausted.
There is a window of time after a woman gives birth that is small, and precious. It is the threshold of her future health, and an opportunity to heal chronic or lifelong conditions permanently. A postpartum doula in the more traditional sense is focused on mother care (vs baby care) and filling the gap in our healthcare for birthing people with traditional practices such as … Nutrient dense food, therapeutic body care, verbal/emotional processing, rest and support. You can watch a short video of what a home visit might look like here.
I work with families within a one hour radius of Frankfort (Belfast Area) Maine.
I believe that there are many ways to become a parent and I work with all kinds of families including adoptive parents, single mothers, and LGBTQ parents, as well as mothers experiencing loss, and abortion care.
