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Postpartum physical and mental health: conversations with a nurse-midwife, a poet, and founders of NC postpartum retreat

Ziva Postpartum Retreat
Alvin C. Jacobs
Ziva Postpartum Retreat

The postpartum period can be overwhelming and parents often need support that is not offered through our health care system.

For newborn parents in the Charlotte area, there’s now Ziva Postpartum Retreat, which offers 24-hour doula and nursery care, lactation consultation, and postpartum classes and wellness programs, among other services.

Celeste Headlee talks with founders Selena Williams and Lauren Hall about starting the business they wish they had access to when they had newborns.

Selena Williams and Lauren Hall, founders,

A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data analysis shows there was a decrease in the U.S. maternal mortality rate between 2022 and 2023 for every group in the study, except Black women. While many of these maternal deaths happen during pregnancy or childbirth, the mortality numbers also include a postpartum period.

Celeste Headlee talks with certified nurse-midwife and nursing professor Karen Sheffield-Abdullah about physical and mental health in the postpartum period and interventions aimed at reducing negative outcomes.

Karen Sheffield-Abdullah, certified nurse-midwife, mindfulness instructor, and Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Poet Bridget Bell lived with postpartum depression after the birth of her first child and writes with searing honesty about the pain and shame many experience in that tender period we're told is beautiful, but for so many is anything but. Bridget talks with Celeste Headlee about her new book of poetry, All That We Ask of You Is to Always Be Happy.

Bridget Bell, writer and poet, author of

Rachel McCarthy is a producer for "Due South." She previously worked at ¹ÏÉñapp as a producer for "The Story with Dick Gordon." More recently, Rachel was podcast managing editor at Capitol Broadcasting Company where she developed narrative series and edited a daily podcast. She also worked at "The Double Shift" podcast as supervising producer. Rachel learned about audio storytelling at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Prior to working in audio journalism, she was a research assistant at the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC.