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THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, SEpTEmbER 4, 2021
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DailyAstorian
Katherine Lacaze
Rechele Salimone makes meals for her clients that often include soups, stews, broths and teas.
‘It’s okay to need help‘
Doula creates meal packages for families of newborns
By KATHERINE LACAZE
For The Astorian
G
iving birth to a child is a monumental life
experience, and it requires a specific type of
care. For some parents, the best care might be
having someone to speak with as they process emo-
tional, physical and hormonal changes. For others,
optimal support might come in the form of a helping
hand around the house or a soothing bowl of soup.
Gearhart doula and postpartum caregiver Rechele
Salimone seeks to fill these needs, along with a vari-
ety of others.
Salimone became a state-certified caregiver in
early 2020, contracting with North Star Doula Ser-
vice to serve families throughout Clatsop County
who are expecting a new baby. This spring, she estab-
lished her own side company, The Nurturing Doula,
with an emphasis on postpartum services.
“I’m hoping to raise awareness of the importance
of this time,” she said, adding it’s “okay to need help.”
“As a mother, I know how hard it is to ask for help.
It’s okay. We’re humans, we’re not robots.”
Salimone felt a lack of support after the birth
of her second child, which inspired her to become
a doula. She felt challenged by a mindset that she
should be able to handle the recovery and transition
back to normal life more easily, especially because
it wasn’t her first child.
However, that wasn’t the case for her, nor is it for
every parent. She says many families don’t plan for
postpartum and there’s a lack of external support in
the maternal healthcare system as well.
“After the baby is born, there’s almost like this
drop,” Salimone said, adding that a majority of par-
ents go back to their health care provider only a
couple of times, and then care stops at six weeks.
“That’s a big part of why I wanted to do this — to
bridge that gap. … The things I offer to families are
things I wish I would have had.”
Salimone uses a variety of herbs and spices to enrich the meals she creates for families with newborns.
who see the importance and know they’re important
and they deserve care,” she added.
Nourishing the body with meal packages
One aspect of Salimone’s business is prepar-
ing fresh, nutritious meals for postpartum fami-
lies. She offers three meal packages that vary in
price and quantity. Using the commercial kitchen at
the North Coast Food Web in Astoria, she prepares
all the meals by hand, guided by the principles of
Ayurveda, one of the world’s oldest holistic healing
systems with historical roots in India.
According to Salimone, during the early months
of postpartum, there are certain foods that nourish
the body to support healing and provide comfort
better than others. Salimone focuses on meals and
snacks that are nutrient-dense, well-spiced and eas-
ily digestible to create warmth in the body, such as
soups, stews, broths and teas.
“It is very much like a love language for me,”
she said.
Families can sign up in advance for a week
or more of meal packages, available for Sunday
pick-up in Astoria, or delivery in Clatsop County.
Family members, friends and neighbors also pur-
chase packages for their loved ones who are expect-
ing. Salimone keeps her services open and flexible,
so she can tailor them to the individual needs of cli-
Providing emotional support
The Bone Broth Noodle Bowl is a meal Salimone created
with chicken bone broth, rice ramen noodles, zucchini,
broccolini, liquid aminos and black sesame seeds.
ents, and she finds it rewarding whenever she gets a
meal order.
“It feels good to know there are families out there
In terms of postpartum support, Salimone will
also run errands, do household chores, watch older
siblings, prepare meals, provide breastfeeding sup-
port and help parents look for resources to cover
other needs she can’t provide for. An important part
of postpartum for many parents is processing and
talking about their birth experiences, and Salimone
aims to help in that way as well.
“Postpartum is such a monumental life experience,
and it deserves specific care,” she said. “It’s emo-
tional, it’s hormonal. It needs a lot of support, and
that support can look like so many different things to
people.”
Additionally, once the coronavirus pandemic has
subsided, Salimone hopes to establish a community
program for families who are simultaneously expe-
riencing the postpartum phase in order to foster con-
nections and further support.
“Healthy families create healthy communities,”
she said. “When we support parents and we’re open
to letting them share their experiences and their hard-
ships and we’re able to connect them to different
resources, we see more of a thriving community.”