In a world where childbirth can often feel overwhelming, birth workers like Natalie provide invaluable support and guidance for families navigating the journey of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. This blog post delves into a recent podcast conversation with Natalie, a professional birth doula and childbirth educator, who shares her insights on maternal care and the importance of community support in Charleston.

In this episode, Emma sits down with trauma therapist, doctoral researcher, and holistic practitioner Danniel Worthen Cullumber, MSW, LCSW, founder of Willow Medela Wellness. Together, they explore how trauma, chronic stress, and cultural conditioning shape the way women understand and inhabit their bodies—and how healing often begins with rebuilding a relationship with our own internal rhythms.

In this conversation, licensed acupuncturist and women’s health practitioner Stephanie Mattrey shares her lived experience with anorexia and bulimia and how it informs her work helping women recover from food addiction and disordered eating. We explore the brain-based nature of addiction, why some 12-step frameworks help (and where rigidity can harm), and how faith became an anchoring part of Stephanie’s recovery.

Licensed therapist Dr. Ashley Hudson joins Emma to talk about untangling purity culture, reclaiming sexual agency, and nurturing intimacy through matrescence and beyond. Ashley shares how her own postpartum depression led her to specialize in perinatal mental health and pursue a PhD exploring how purity culture shapes sexuality in motherhood.

Registered Dietitian Aderet Hoch (Dining with Nature) joins Emma to talk about practical, gentle nourishment from preconception through postpartum—without one-size-fits-all rules. We cover cycle-aware eating, noticing patterns (not single data points), batch-cook and sheet-pan staples for busy seasons, and a simple habit that can change your week: add a fruit and/or vegetable to every meal. Plus, the Venn-diagram menu that feeds real families without short-order chaos. Connection, not perfection.

In this short and sweet mini episode, Emma drops in with a quick hello and a little update. Things have been full behind the scenes, but she’s back and excited about what’s ahead—including a lineup of incredible guest interviews coming soon!

Your menstrual bleed isn’t just a messy inconvenience—it’s a powerful monthly report card from your body. In this episode of The Cyclical Doula Podcast, Emma breaks down what’s considered “normal” when it comes to menstruation and menstrual bleeding, and the red flags that shouldn’t be brushed off. From heavy periods that leave you exhausted to light or irregular bleeds that hint at hormonal shifts, this episode will help you understand what your cycle is telling you.

Pregnancy after loss comes with unique challenges—and unique hope. In this episode, doula Sarah Lingle shares her story of navigating miscarriage, infertility, and pregnancy after loss. We discuss fertility charting, hormone health, advocating in the medical system, and why compassionate support makes all the difference for families building life after loss.

Haley shares how her teen years with irregular cycles led to a PCOS diagnosis, why restorative reproductive medicine changed everything, and how charting gave her answers the pill never could. We also dive into the practical differences between Creighton and sympto-thermal charting, safe apps to use (and which settings to turn off), and how to raise body-literate kids from the start.

Do you ever feel like all the responsibility for family planning ends up on your shoulders?

You’re the one tracking cycles.
You’re the one noticing mucus patterns.
You’re the one remembering temperatures.

Meanwhile, your partner might smile politely when you show them your chart… but you can tell they’re not really invested.

Your fertility chart is more than a family planning tool—it’s a monthly health report card. In this episode, Emma unpacks how cycle tracking can uncover hidden health concerns long before they show up in lab work or symptoms.

Thinking about ditching hormonal birth control but worried about unplanned pregnancy? You’re not alone. In this episode of The Cyclical Doula Podcast, I’m sharing how I help individuals and couples confidently avoid pregnancy using fertility awareness-based methods—without hormones or guesswork.

Trying to get pregnant but feeling overwhelmed, confused, or stuck? You’re not alone. In this episode of The Cyclical Doula Podcast, I’m breaking down exactly what it’s like to work with me when you’re trying to conceive—and how charting your cycle can be a total game changer.