Non-Traditional Occupational Therapy: A Journey Through Maternal Health, Postpartum Care, Lactation, and More

written by your friendly neighborhood OT/IBCLC 😉

Believe it or not, I wanted to be a pharmacist. But the way organic chemistry is set up, only the truly passionate are destined to succeed. Year two into this whirlwind of chemistry and I quickly decided that two more years was not in the cards. Cue more life struggles (multiple family members passing away) and navigating racism as an “adult”, I had no idea what to “do” as a career.

Enter panic of last-minute applying to graduate school. 

Optometry? No… don’t want another 4 years of school.

Dietician? No… doesn’t seem like enough money. 

Occupational Therapy? Sure… seems flexible enough.

In hindsight, this is a terrible way to choose a career path, but…

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” - Paulo Coelho

I knew that if nothing else, it would be the stepping stone needed to find my passion and purpose. 

I was right.

After years of thinking I was on the path to Certified Hand Therapist, I quit my clinic job. It was March 2017 and I was supposed to return to the hospital after maternity leave, but I ran into a major problem. After a traumatic birth, I couldn’t imagine getting in a car, commuting for hours, and spending so much time away from my baby. I couldn’t go back to work, I could barely move around without pain from the cesarean. 

Enter late-night Google sessions on how to work with new mothers and babies as an OT. I found one course, that didn’t offer CEUs, but immediately invested. Turns out, this course heavily focused on pelvic health, nonetheless opened my eyes to new options outside the typical clinic setting. 

Desperate for more information about care in the postpartum period, I signed up for postpartum doula training. I told myself “I’m an OT, I can figure this out”. In this training, the biggest takeaway was learning to just “be”, the power of holding space, and letting go of the need to always “do”.

Exploring postpartum life outside of the medical model truly ignited a new passion. Although occupational therapy looks at the person as a whole and the many factors impacting participation and performance in daily activities, it still mostly operates in the medical model. There was a huge disconnect between what I was learning about the importance of community support and the inherent focus on the individual and independence.

It was difficult to start integrating skills and beliefs. I felt like I wasn’t an OT, that I was wasting the time and money it took to obtain the credential and license, OTR/L. The looming student loan debt… I had to “use” this degree!

So, I ended back where I started using skills I learned in the hand clinic. I began postpartum doula work treating post-surgical wounds, this time as a doula for clients who birthed via cesarean. I had the experience with scar mobilization and movement so it was a good fit, but I still felt a pull that something was missing. I fell right back into “fix it” mode. Being a business owner means you have to be able to solve problems that people will pay for. 

I wasn’t sold on the current path and decided to try something different fueled by my own experience. Breastfeeding my son after bringing him home was one of the most challenging things I’ve done in life. I had grossly mismanaged care largely because of a racist lactation consultant. It was at this point I realized my desire for further education was really to help myself, heal my own trauma. 

After my first lactation training, I knew that I wanted to help other women who looked like me. The Black maternal health crisis is real. I began to see lactation as a true specialty of maternal health OT. It is one of the only areas where you simultaneously support the parent and baby. And Black mothers and babies need this support, it’s literally life-saving. 

What mattered most about the lactation training program, was that I was able to move beyond anecdotal advice, beyond support in the doula role, to providing actual useful, effective, and evidence-based information to families. Yes, I was an OT and all the areas fit into the scope of practice, but that doesn’t automatically assume competency. 

I had finally found my groove. 

I started making intentional steps to learn business skills. I knew that having strong clinical skills wasn’t enough to make a sustainable business. I had been cultivating my therapeutic presence and able to quickly build rapport with clients, but this didn’t help grow the practice outside of myself. 

Finding the rhythm between family life and business was crucial. I needed consistent and reliable income, with the flexibility of time– this is why I’ll never leave private practice. I’ve taken accounting classes, paid for coaching, consistently read business and finance books, literally all the things. I am meticulous about making sure the math will always math💁🏽‍♀️ . 

In my practice today, I love how it can evolve based on my multi-passionate personality. A visit with me can touch on so many topics in a way that only I can provide because no one has the same story as me. It’s why I never worry about “competition” or helping others towards their goals. Even with the same credentials and same training, there’s only one me, and I know that’s not for everyone.

Someone will find the value in what you say, and only you can say it that way. And it’s ok if something doesn’t resonate with someone. You’re not here to please everyone.

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I’d love to read your response. If you have questions or feel called to share something you’ve thought of while reading this, drop me a message. 

If you're looking for support in your non-traditional business as an Occupational Therapist, let me know.