Subscribe Now
What if the way we care for new mothers is all wrong?
Not just lacking. Not just outdated. But built on a model that misses the heart and soul of what postpartum truly is — and what it could be.
When I was a home birth midwife, postpartum care was the care. I'd visit mamas and babies at home five or six times in the first few weeks. We’d talk about everything — from latch to lochia, sleep deprivation to soul shifts. It wasn’t “extra.” It was essential.
It’s part of why I went into medicine, because as a midwife I saw too often, how in this precious, vulnerable, formative window for mothers and babies – care just disappeared for the mother after the baby was born. A first visit may have been 6 or 8 weeks after the birth, by which time mothers were struggling alone with overwhelm, breastfeeding challenges, or worse, anxiety, depression, isolation, and sometimes they’d given up breastfeeding because they had no support. And when they did get care, all too often they had to sit in waiting rooms, a baby and toddler often in tow, waiting for an appointment only to get 15 minutes with a doctor whose had no idea to support mothers postpartum.
This week on On Health, I’m joined by my long-time colleague and kindred spirit Dr. Eva Zasloff — a fellow family physician, artist, mother, and fellow revolutionary in postpartum care — to talk about the radical simplicity and profound necessity of caring for mothers in their homes, in their own rhythm, and on their own terms.
Inside the Episode We Talk About
- The surprising (and heartbreaking) truth about conventional postpartum visits
- Why 20-minute clinic appointments can do more harm than good
- Eva’s bold leap from family doctor to founder of Tova Health — a home-based, whole-person care model serving over 600 families
- The “twilight zone” of early motherhood — and how we can hold space for it
- What home visits offer that clinic visits never can
- Why postpartum depression and anxiety are often symptoms of a broken system
- The healing power of birth stories, coconut oil massages, and Zoom mama circles that make a difference
What Eva is doing with Tova Health, and what I’m doing with The Mama Pathway, are not just beautiful experiences for mothers— they’re necessary for maternal health. It’s a return to wisdom we’ve always known. And it’s a model I dream of seeing in communities everywhere.
If you’re a doula, a midwife, a family doc, or a mama (or someone who loves one), this episode will touch you deeply — and perhaps inspire you to bring this care into your own community or at least raise your awareness about the importance of listening to, being with, and supporting new mothers.
Resources + Links
- Learn more about Eva and Tova Health
- Explore the Mama Pathway postpartum program
- Read Aviva’s book Natural Health After Birth — one of the earliest guides on the fourth trimester
Loved this episode?
Share it with a friend, sister, or doula. Leave a review. Join us on Instagram @DrAvivaRomm and let us know what postpartum care has meant for you. And if you’re dreaming of a better way — whether you’re a practitioner or a mama — I see you. And this episode is for you.
What if we treated postpartum as sacred?
Not as an afterthought. Not as a single rushed appointment six weeks out. But as a vital season — tender, transformative, and deserving of the deepest care.
For over two decades, I practiced as a home birth midwife before becoming a family physician. My postpartum visits weren’t “optional” — they were the heart of what I did. I’d show up for mama and baby on day one, then again on day three, day seven, day ten. I’d sit with them in their homes, often barefoot, sometimes sipping tea, always listening.
We’d talk about breastfeeding. About bleeding. About sleep (or the lack of it). We’d go over their birth story. I’d hold space for the messy middle — the tears, the doubts, the awe, the ache. Because in those first weeks, everything is raw. The milk is coming in. The uterus is still cramping. The baby is learning how to latch. And the mama? She’s learning how to mother this baby — not just any baby.
Then I entered medical training. And everything changed.
A System That Doesn’t See Mothers
As a family medicine resident, I quickly realized how fragmented our system is. We expect new parents — sometimes just days postpartum — to schlep into clinics, sit in germy waiting rooms, and squeeze their story into a 15- or 20-minute slot. Most pediatric visits don’t include meaningful postpartum check-ins. And the maternal visit? That might not happen until six or eight weeks out.
We are failing mothers.
We’re so focused on baby's weight gain that we forget the mama whose body is still bleeding, whose nipples are cracked, whose hormones are shifting like tectonic plates.
Dr. Eva Zasloff, my guest on this week’s On Health podcast, saw the same thing. Trained as a family doc, Eva began noticing how inadequate and disjointed postpartum care was — not just for babies, but for mothers. She’d finish a visit with a newborn and find herself saying, “I think I need to see you again tomorrow.” But that meant dragging the whole exhausted family back in again, with no additional time allotted to assess mama’s healing, bleeding, or mood.
So she did something radical.
She stepped outside the clinic — and brought the care home.
Reimagining Postpartum: One Home Visit at a Time
Eight years ago, Eva founded Tova Health, a home-based fourth trimester practice now serving hundreds of families in the Boston area. She shows up at their front door, baby scale in one hand, stethoscope in the other, and begins each visit not with the baby — but with the mother.
“How are you?” she asks. Not just as a pleasantry. But as a true check-in. A lifeline.
She listens to birth stories. Assesses healing. Talks about boobs and bleeding and latch and leaking. She weighs babies, yes — but without obsessing. She screens for postpartum mood disorders. And she reminds mothers of something essential:
Your body is wise.
Your baby is wise.
You know more than you think.
In a world of parenting apps and endless advice, Eva helps parents come home to their own instincts. She calls it “demedicalizing the moment” — replacing fear-based rules with spacious, supportive care.
A Twilight Zone of Transition
There’s something else that happens in those early weeks after birth. Something we don’t talk about enough.
It’s disorienting.
You’re not sleeping. Your body’s not your own. You’re nourishing a whole human with your breasts, your touch, your everything. And yet, you may feel totally alone.
As Eva describes it: “You’re never alone, and yet you’re so lonely.”
That’s why she created virtual mama groups — weekly Zoom circles for her postpartum families. There, mamas share birth stories, cry, laugh, ask questions, and simply see each other. The fourth trimester becomes communal again — even if the connection is digital.
Returning to What We’ve Always Known
What Eva is doing isn’t new. It’s old. It’s ancient. It’s what midwives and wise women have done for generations. And it’s what modern medicine has nearly forgotten.
But we can remember.
Whether you're a birth worker or a pediatrician, a new mama or a grandmother, this matters. Because when we care for mothers, we care for babies. We care for families. We care for our collective future.
As Eva said to me: “This is just good design. Two people — the mother and the baby — needing care, together, in the comfort of their home.”
It’s that simple. And that's profound.
If You’re Dreaming of More…
Maybe you’re a practitioner dreaming of starting your own home-based care model. Maybe you’re a mama longing for support. Maybe you’re somewhere in between.
Start where you are.
Find your people. Ask your doula or midwife if there’s a local postpartum group. Join the Mama Pathway. Connect with Tova Health if you’re near Boston. And if you’re a provider wanting to learn more, reach out to Eva. She’s growing this movement — one mama at a time. Or reach out to me to become a Mama Pathway Mentor – and learn the art of postpartum care.
We can’t change the whole system overnight. But we can bring the medicine home — literally and metaphorically — and it starts with remembering what really heals – and what mothers really need
