Ashley Stetson, CD(DONA) joins us on the podcast again, this time to discuss navigating the infant stage with multiples. Ashley is a Certified Birth Doula, San Diego HypnoBirthing Educator, and Doula Match Facilitator at the Birth Education Center of San Diego. She became a mother to spontaneous triplets in 2011. Their birth inspired her to join the childbirth community and help families achieve the birth experiences they deserve. She is a highly trained doula with much experience in high risk pregnancy, multiples pregnancies, cesarean births, and induction.Here’s what we covered in our chat with Ashley:

• A brief review of the birth of Ashley’s triplets
• What it was like bringing all three babies home and how they survived the early months with three newborns
• The importance of having adequate support in place for the postpartum period (and why hiring a postpartum doula is SO worth it!)
• An estimation of what Ashley and her husband spent on diapers and formula in the first few years (plus some money saving tips that she discovered along the way!)
• Some ideas for feeding/sleeping schedules with multiples
• Special considerations when caring for preemies/babies who spent time in the NICU
• Some notes about postpartum healing and how it might be different than with a singleton
• The importance of getting involved with a community of other multiples families
• The essential baby gear that Ashley suggests
• Resources mentioned in this episode:
  • 12 Ways to Support a Woman Who is Breastfeeding in the NICU
  • Life After the NICU: 6 Tips to Transition from the NICU to Home
  • 4 Lessons on Breastfeeding in the NICU
  • Mother Multiples Facebook Group
  • Breastfeeding the Premature Baby (part 1)
  • Breastfeeding the Premature Baby (part 2)
  • Breastfeeding the Premature Baby (part 3)

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