In this episode, we explore how doulas or birthkeepers can be so powerful and helpful during the birthing and postpartum experience with Leonora Ilovea Willis.

Leonora is a native-born Samoan, born on the island of Tutuila in the great Pacific ocean, but who is practicing and working in diaspora as a Birthkeeper, childbirth educator, lactation education specialist, perinatal yoga teacher and bodyworker, serving her community in Oakland and the greater Bay Area. She owns and operates her own birthwork business called Daughter of Samoa, which is part of the title of a book that an ancestor wrote and published in 1889, The Story of Lauli’i, A Daughter of Samoa.

We talk to Leonora about:

• The importance of having a postpartum plan and community
• Generational trauma to be addressed before motherhood
• Why it is important to have cultural congruency in birth work
• Where the word "doula" comes from and the importance of language to describe birthkeepers
• What the difference between a doula/birthkeeper is versus a midwife
• What kind of systemic level changes would be ideal

Leonora humbly and graciously imparts her wisdom and experience of the birthkeeping world with us and we hope this episode can help others learn more about the power and importance of working with a birthworker or building a postpartum team with intention.

Find more of Leonora at:
Website: https://leonorawillis.life/
IG: @daughter_of_samoa
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daughterofsamoa/

Resources:
Leonora's ancestor's book: The Story of Lauli'i, A Daughter of Samoa
Tema Mercado, midwife from San Diego
Healing the Tigress Episode 32-- Expecting the Unexpected: A Realistic Look at Ways to Prepare for Postpartum

Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.

Please take a moment to RATE and REVIEW our show if you enjoy the episodes we bring to you! It helps others to find our show when you do. Thanks so much! =)

Support the show

May is AAPI Heritage Month and also Maternal Mental Health month, and what better cross section to represent these things than our podcast! For this special month, we have the absolute pleasure and honor of interviewing Dr. Jenny T. Wang, PhD. Many of you may know of Dr. Jenny, but for those who do not, she is a Taiwanese American clinical psychologist speaker, and author on the intersections of Asian American identity, mental health, and intergenerational trauma.

We were able to talk to Dr. Jenny about her own experiences with her mental health during her postpartum periods, as well other topics on parenting and breaking generational cycles. In this episode, we also discuss:

• How to start doing the inner work to heal your inner child before one can break generational cycles
• What is the inner child?
• How to stop self-sacrificing 100% so you can balance valuing your children AND your hobbies, career, and other relationships
• How to preserve some of our AAPI cultural values while parenting in a way that feels better to us
• How to resist the "tiger mom" impulses to criticize and judge our children
• How to have the self-compassion and wisdom to prioritize our mental health as children of immigrants who did not have this modeled to us
• What we can be doing to help our AAPI youth in their mental health as according to CDC data from 2018–2022, "suicide was the leading cause of death among Asian Americans aged 15–24, and the second leading cause of death among Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders"

Dr. Jenny's answers are thought-provoking, profound, and wise, and we hope that you will enjoy this conversation as much as we found it healing too. This is one to bookmark to come back to over and over again!

Find more of Dr. Jenny Wang:

Instagram: @asiansformentalhealth
Website: www.jennywangphd.com
Book: Permission to Come Home: Reclaiming Mental Health as Asian Americans

Dr. Jenny founded the Instagram community Asians for Mental Health (@asiansformentalhealth), spearheaded several mental health directories like Asians for Mental Health therapist directory, and wrote a best selling book in 2022 titled Permission to Come Home: Reclaiming Mental Health as Asian Americans. Dr. Jenny is also an advisor on the mental health advocacy board of Wondermind, a mental health media company co-founded by Selena Gomez, Mandy Teefey, and Daniella Pierson. She is also an advisory member of the Mental Health Coalition created by Kenneth Cole and on the academic advisory board for the Asian American Foundation focusing on AAPI youth mental health. She has been seen on Good Morning America, New York Times, the Today Show, NBC, NPR, and more.

Resources:

• Asians for Mental Health Therapist Directory
• Beyond the Surface: Understanding Mental Health Among Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Youth (new 2024 research)
  
  

Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or profession

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Support the show

In this heartfelt episode, our guest Elise Ruiz-Hom, a Portland-based new mom, shares the powerful story of her and her wife Lydia’s years-long journey to parenthood. Raised in a multicultural, biracial family in Hawai'i, Elise reflects on how her identity has shaped her worldview—especially as a white-passing Asian woman navigating life on the mainland.

She takes us through their emotional fertility journey: from Lydia’s eight failed IUIs and three rounds of IVF—including traumatic procedures and heartbreaking losses—to Elise’s smoother journey to pregnancy after just two IUIs. With raw honesty, Elise opens up about grief, guilt, and healing, the importance of cultural roots in building their family, and how their son Chaves finally brought their dream to life. This is a story about building a family with intention, love, and deep resilience, navigating both the healthcare system and cultural roots as two LGBTQ mothers.

Resources:

Postpartum Support International Queer & Trans Parent Support Group

Connect with Elise:

Instagram: @juxtapose53

Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.

Please take a moment to RATE and REVIEW our show if you enjoy the episodes we bring to you! It helps others to find our show when you do. Thanks so much! =)

Lastly, check us out on Patreon for more exclusives and to support us more! patreon.com/healingthetigresspodcast

Support the show

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Support the show