44. Army Spouse Kristal's Birth Stories, with Conversation on How Her Medical Background Impacted Her Experience, East Asian Postpartum Cultural Practices, and the Importance of Holistic Family Care

In today’s episode, I’m speaking with Dr. Kristal Lau who is an Army spouse sharing two birth stories. Kristal’s first birth story took place in Alabama and her second was born OCONUS in Wiesbaden Germany. So two totally different settings and it was really interesting to hear the differences in some of the culture norms between the two, and then we also talked about how her postpartum experiences were really different as well. Kristal is Malaysian and ethnically Chinese so she talked about some of the cultural practices that are common in her family and how that played out for her, and then we also talked a bit about some of the gaps in mental health care for the non birthing parent, whether that’s dad or a same sex partner, and why holistic family care is so important. Follow along with Military Birth Talk:Instagram: @militarybirthtalkFacebook: Military Birth Resource Network & Postpartum CoalitionSubmit your birth story!forms.gle/3TT7FyV1QQV3RZGc8