Meet Tess Ferrara | Certified Postpartum Doula

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tess Ferrara and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tess, what habits do you feel helped you succeed?
The idea of success within the doula world is less about me and more about the families. Successful postpartum doula work means that a family is physically recovered/adjusted from birth, logistically in a sound place with how their household is working with their new baby, and emotionally grounded in their own hormonal adjustments, communication needs, and available resources for when struggles surmount. To bring parents to that successful place in their postpartum journey, I focus on affirmation, continuous learning, and a spirit of problem solving.

Postpartum isn’t a glorious stage of life. It’s very messy for mama and baby – bodily fluids, unfamiliar bodies, spitting up, night sweats, seismic hormonal shifts, sleep deprivation, constant hunger, etc. The messiness is compounded with a feeling of inadequacy and uncertainty. My husband and I joke that we spent the first 3 months with our oldest son googling, “is it normal that…” because we needed affirmations for our decisions. Life pre-baby is full of outward affirmations. You know you’re doing a good job because x happens: the data moves, the reviews are strong, referrals come in. With baby, we don’t get celebrated for the little wins each day, and we certainly don’t get applause for making it through the hard days as parents. Sitting with a family week after week and watching them grow in their confidence and resilience is an absolute honor, and I do not hold back with my observations with them. It’s hard to feel successful with a newborn, sometimes, so being a source of affirmation that they are doing good, hard work is essential.

We’re in an incredible time of growing postpartum knowledge, research, and product development. I am constantly in a space of learning. As a DONA certified postpartum doula, I have completed a complex training and certification process which fully prepared me to begin my work. Through networking with other postpartum professionals, though, I continue to learn and re-learn about current research and the important network of support in Atlanta and beyond. I am always reading the new research, trying out new products, and sharing it to best support families. And I relish in the opportunities to model new learning with families when they have a product with which I am unfamiliar. After all, doulas walk alongside mamas in the journey and show them how to sift through the information and options!

Babies cry. Cesarean scars pull. Sleep gets disrupted. Babies lose weight. Nipples crack. Postpartum is full of non-linear changes which is a frustrating change from a previously consistent existence. Instead of assigning judgment to these changes, I encourage families to view this journey with a spirit of problem solving. So that didn’t work, I wonder why? This is what we know from research, and this is what you know about your baby. What are our options? What are our goals right now? Which option best lines up with that? And then we try it out and gather more data points. Each day for a newborn is a little different, and each shift with a family is different. Being flexible with the needs of the day is a critical component and joy of my work.

What should our readers know about your business?
Pregnancy is one of the most monitored stages of a woman’s life – focused on growing and changing and physical health. There’s excitement and wonder and awe throughout the entire 40+ weeks. When baby is born, the locus of interest moves to the baby with so little attention paid to the mama and the family who have been forever changed. The massive gap in wonder and awe, physical recovery, emotional recovery, logistical adaptation, and judgement-free information/guidance underserves this most tender adjustment. Mamas truly need everything a baby needs – comfort, rest, nourishment, emotional connection, and to only focus on adjusting to this new world. While many other countries have figured out how to systemically provide this to every mother, we are woefully behind. When I struggled with postpartum anxiety after the birth of my 3rd son, I felt that gap personally and knew there was work to do. I had a birth doula for my own childbirths, but I knew that the postpartum world was where I needed to be. I began the extensive reading and researching process as part of the DONA International certification process and never turned back.

I started Genesis Doula Services (www.genesisdoulaservices.com) celebrating the messiness of beginnings. The birth of a baby is also the birth of a mother. And this birth is messy, beautiful, challenging, exhilarating, and all the in betweens! I have worked solo and with other doula groups with the goal of supporting the most families possible and learning about the doula business world. My personal joy is in daytime one-on-one support of families in their homes. Each 3 to 5-hour shift varies based on the needs of the family. A visit includes informational, emotional, and logistical support. We might discuss swaddling strategies and how to make sure a diaper fits properly, problem solve frequent spit ups, check in on hormonal swings, change bed sheets from night sweats, fold laundry while watching a nursing session and offering adjustments, play with baby while mama takes a nap, discuss normal physical recovery from birth, and sanitize pump parts. I am also passionate about the role of nutrition in postpartum recovery, emotional resiliency, and breastfeeding success. I always strive to leave a visit with a one-handed, dense nutrition snack or meal in the family’s refrigerator. Cooking and meal prep is a joyful passion within my work and am always happy to bring joy and healing through food. Forming these connections with families and educating and loving on them individually is such a honor and joy for me. There’s also benefit in larger postpartum group settings. I am grateful to partner with Mesh Moms (www.meshmoms.com) to lead small pods of new mamas and their babies for six weeks to help them find their community and share information on important and often neglected postpartum topics such as matrescence (the process of transforming into a mother), birth stories, sleep routines, pelvic floor physical therapy, and newborn sleeping and feeding.

No matter what our own stories have been, using those experiences to bring change or joy to others is an important way to grow. When I was a high school English teacher 10 years ago, I never would have predicted this part of my path. After my own postpartum journey, though, I felt a desire and calling I couldn’t ignore to working on closing this gap of maternal care. Even though I am just one person, I know that each person who is supported in their fourth trimester will speak differently about their experience and the expectation to just “suffer through” will become less of the norm. A few years ago, my mom gave me a plaque that hangs in my home: “Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.” And that continues to drive me each day.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Growing up in the Midwest, farmers markets were truly a summer activity, a thing to do on a Saturday morning. When my husband and I moved to Atlanta 7 years ago with our boys, we were shocked at the farmers market culture! We now find ourselves hopping around between the markets throughout the week, chatting with farmers and vendors and creators. For a perfect week, then, we would scoot around the city testing out the various farmers markets, creating meal plans as we go full of fresh vegetables and local meats and herbs, selecting bundles of flowers for the table, and grabbing gluten free pastries and tea/coffee along the way! We would then find our way to a sporting event. My boys are active athletes and dedicated fans of their teams, so a day without sports would feel incomplete. Whether it is major or minor league, college or pro, there is always an option to watch sports in Atlanta.

We also love hiking, so a full week would include a hike up Stone Mountain, along the Chattahoochee River, through Sweetwater Creek Park, and finish up picking fruit at a local farm. We love Southern Belle, Mitcham, and Warbington farms for all the fresh fruit, fun activities, and yummy treats! Last but not least, we are big fans of coffee shops and donuts – touring some of our favorites would be an excellent part of the week. My husband is a coffee purist and loves the roasts at East Pole and JavaVino, and as a tea drinker, I’m a fan of Chai Pani’s chai and Urban Grind’s matcha. For donuts, it’s hard to do better than Revolution Donuts (they always have a gluten free one!) and I’m obsessed with Hell Yeah Gluten Free’s donuts and pretty much everything.

(And consider this an open invitation to do any of the above, old friends and new!!)

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Yes yes yes!! Every day, no matter how exhausted, how covered in sweat/milk/excrement/vomit, how achy and sore and unfamiliar this new body feels, the new mama shows up for her baby. And in doing so, she exhibits the most incredible super power. For the mamas who reach out for help, they are using their resources to support their transition and write their motherhood story differently. This is incredibly powerful and inspiring. In retrospect, I did not accept help as fully as I might have after each of my pregnancies, and I think that was because of a sense of pride that I could do it all and an unrealistic expectation that I should. Help is a strength, not a dirty word. So I am inspired by the new mamas working to change that norm and create a healthier postpartum experience.

I am also infinitely inspired by my husband and my children. The way they corral around me and the families I support is the only reason I’m able to do my work and do it with joy. They understand the importance of meaningful work and the awe of postpartum, and their unrelenting encouragement and grace for me as a mother and partner never escapes me. We all need our village, and I’m so grateful for mine.

And finally, I am so grateful to all of the Atlanta postpartum support members who are providing encouragement, resources, love, and advocacy for mamas. Thank you to all of the lactation consultants, pelvic floor physical therapists, postpartum doula groups, newborn photographers, maternal therapists, feeding therapists, mom community builders, and more who have met me for numerous cups of matcha, given me space to figure out my business, and walked along with me to process the doula journey. One of the earliest conversations I had was with a wonderful doula in northern Georgia who shared, “I do not view us as competition. There are more mamas than we can support alone.” And that was my foray into this community.

Website: https://www.genesisdoulaservices.com

Instagram: @genesisdoulaservicesatl