03. The Missing Conversation About Birth, Movement & Postpartum Healing
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The birth wasn't the hard part. It was everything after.
Today I sit down with Dr. Erica Boland: chiropractor, certified professional midwife, mother, and co-founder of Coulee Health and the Coulee Health Birth Collective in Wisconsin. Her work brings together perinatal chiropractic, midwifery, movement, and postpartum support, honoring mom and baby as the connected system they were always designed to be.
Her path into birth work began, as so many of the best ones do, with a personal experience that cracked her open. She had her first son at 19. From there, she became a doula, studied chiropractic (including time in Prague), and built an integrative model of care rooted in one belief: women deserve far more than rushed appointments and survival-mode postpartum.
Whether you're pregnant, postpartum, curious about your options, or simply someone who believes women deserve to be heard, this episode is for you.
The Birth That Set Her Path in Motion
Erica found out she was pregnant at 19, and like so many of us, she did exactly what the system told her to do. Her son's birth was highly medicalized, including an induction and five precautionary days in the NICU. The postpartum stretch that followed felt isolating and disconnected. She didn't have the language for it yet, but she carried a quiet, instinctive sense that birth was never meant to feel that way. That instinct became her calling.
Why Chiropractic and Midwifery Belong Together
Many people might picture chiropractic and midwifery as separate worlds. For Erica, they were always one. She describes so much of chiropractic as brain-body work: whether she's adjusting someone or guiding them through movement, she's helping them relearn what it feels like to be at home in their own body.
It was during chiropractic school that she got healthy herself, and in her own experience, movement and nourishment became a turning point for how she felt, mind, and body. That set off a lifelong fascination with movement, birth, and the connection between the two.
How a Mother's Movement Shapes Her Baby
This is where the conversation really opens up. Erica explains the link between a mother's movement and her baby's development. When mom is moving well, and her core works the way it was designed to, like a canister, the baby has better access to the full space inside the uterus.
And the developmental milestones we think of as automatic, rolling, crawling, sitting, walking, actually begin long before birth. She also names something many women feel but rarely hear out loud: so much of what gets brushed off as "just part of having a baby" actually deserves real attention and support.
The Postpartum Care Most Women Never Get
Maybe the most validating part of the episode is the postpartum conversation. Most women are handed a baby and a single six-week check, then left to figure out the rest on their own. Erica's model looks different: longer 45-minute visits, a home visit within the first day or two, in-office check-ins at 2, 4, and 6 weeks, and a monthly gathering for moms across the entire first year.
She's honest about the harder parts, too, the anxiety, the depression, and the rage that far more women experience than admit. She reassures you that you don't need an expert as much as you need community and someone you trust to talk to. She also points to the concept of "postnatal depletion," which she says can peak around four years postpartum, and encourages anyone feeling truly depleted to seek out functional medicine support.
Chiropractic Care for Mom and Baby
Erica is a firm believer in chiropractic care through pregnancy and beyond, again as brain-body work that builds awareness in the body. Adjusting the pelvis can ease tension in the pelvic floor, and balanced soft tissue can shape both the birth and the recovery. But she's quick to add that the real work happens outside the 15-minute adjustment, in the daily habits that either build tension or release it. With babies, she describes gentle care in the hours and weeks after birth: soft-tissue movement, checking reflexes, and helping infants access both sides of their bodies, which she connects to breastfeeding and early development.
Coming Back to Yourself
Woven through the whole conversation is a quieter theme. Erica talks about following the instinct in your body rather than the fear in your head, and how every hard transition, in birth and in life, asks you to trust the process before you can feel the benefit on the other side. Her invitation isn't to do everything perfectly. It's about coming back to yourself, one small, consistent choice at a time.
What You'll Learn in This Episode
(With timestamps so you can jump right to what you need)
05:34 — The birth at 19 that set the course for her life's work
08:59 — How she moved from nursing to chiropractic to midwifery, and why she blends them
10:05 — Movement, strength, and the turning point in how she felt
15:12 — Fascia, fertility, and the core as a "canister."
16:27 — How a mother's movement shapes her baby's space and development
21:46 — What a 45-minute midwifery visit actually looks like
26:24 — The postpartum support model most women never get
34:44 — "Postnatal depletion" and why it can peak around four years out
41:28 — Why chiropractic care can shape a birth and a recovery
49:19 — The first step if you want a different kind of pregnancy
Resources & Books Mentioned
Pushed by Jennifer Block
The Postnatal Depletion Cure by Dr. Oscar Serrallach
About Dr. Erica Boland
Dr. Erica Boland is a chiropractor, certified professional midwife, and co-founder of Coulee Health and the Coulee Health Birth Collective in Wisconsin. Her integrative model brings together perinatal chiropractic, midwifery, movement, and postpartum support for both mothers and babies. Her mission is to help women experience birth and motherhood in a more connected, supported, and empowered way.
Final Thoughts
This conversation is a reminder that women were never meant to move through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum alone. There are practitioners building a different kind of care, rooted in listening, trust, and treating the whole person. And when a mother is truly supported, her whole family feels it.
If this episode resonated with you, share it with a friend, a new mom, or someone preparing for birth who needs to hear it.
→ Find Dr. Erica on Instagram at @themovementmidwife, or visit couleehealth.com for local and virtual consults (core, pelvic floor, and pediatric movement). If this episode moved you, share it and leave a review.
And if you're a natural health or wellness practitioner with a story to tell, I'd love to connect at practitionersrise.com/podcastapply.
