Listening to Mothers in the Postpartum Window with Kenga Sivarajah

There is a moment after birth that often goes unseen.The visitors leave. The appointments slow. The world moves on.And a mother is left in the quiet—tending, giving, adjusting—while something within her is still wide open.In this episode, we explore what it means to truly care for a mother in the postpartum window.Not just to ensure her safety, but to honor her experience.Not just to support the baby, but to remain present with the woman herself.We speak honestly about the gaps many mothers feel in modern postpartum care—where clinical success does not always translate into emotional or relational support. And we begin to name what has been missing.This conversation is a remembering.A return to the understanding that postpartum is not simply a recovery period, but a profound threshold—one that asks for rest, warmth, nourishment, and steady presence.Together, we explore:Why safety alone is not enough in postpartum careThe emotional and relational needs of mothers after birthThe postpartum window as a time of deep transformationWhat it means to offer care that is embodied, conscious, and humanHow we can begin to reweave support back into families and communitiesIf you’ve ever felt that something was missing in your own postpartum experience…If you feel called to support mothers in a deeper, more connected way…If you’re longing for work that honors both care and consciousness…This conversation is for you.You are not alone in what you’re sensing.—About Kenga:My guest has spent her career inside some of the most high-stakes rooms that the perinatal journey can hold. As Lead for Obstetrics Care at Central Health London and Consultant Obstetrician at King's College Hospital, Dr. Kenga Sivarajah has guided thousands of women and families through both theordinary and the extraordinary passages of pregnancy and birth. Her specialist interests in high-risk obstetrics, maternal medicine, perinatal mental health, and obstetric risk management have shaped not only the care she gives, but the systems she builds. And it is the systems she has built that I find especially moving. Dr. Sivarajah pioneered a joint obstetric-psychiatry service in partnership with South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, bringing together two worlds that so often operate in silos, to hold women with severe mental health conditions in a truly integrated, multi-disciplinary way. That work was nationally recognised with a Royal College of Midwives award. What draws me most deeply to this conversation, though, is something that cannot be measured in awards or patient numbers, but how Dr. Sivarajah speaks about a woman's voice in the room. Whether a mother is weighing the decision around induction, navigating birth after trauma, or trying to make sense of what her body and spirit need in the weeks that follow... Kenga brings a rare and beautiful combination of medical excellence and genuine human advocacy. She does not just see the clinical picture. She sees the person. As Labour Ward Lead at King's, she has held a vantage point on what families truly need in the postpartum window... and she knows, as we know, that it is not only safety. It is dignity. It is participation. It is being seen.Links:Dr Kenga Sivarajah | Consultant in Obstetrics & Maternal Medicinehttps://www.centralhealthlondon.com—Are you feeling the call to know more about Conscious Postpartum Care?Reach out! ⁠Schedule a time with Christine⁠ to find out how this work can transform your care business or provide a meaningful career path.Here is the ⁠link⁠ to our free class@‌sacredwindowstudiesJoin our ⁠Facebook Group⁠Podcast Music is Composed by Sara Emmitt, graduate of the Center for Sacred Window Studies. You can hear more of Sara’s incredible music at www.saraemmitt.com.